Naruto: The replicator
by Lach Feragh
Summary: Follows Naruto with a new sensei for team 7 instead of kakashi. Pairing narusaku. story starts from sealing of kyuubi till wherever it ends. Different turn of events from the canon.
1. Sealing of the demon

**Hei guys. Erm, some of you must have read my story Uchiha prodigy but I have stopped it due to a review. I dont hate him for it and should thank him... Or her... What the author said is true, my OC was too powerful so I decided to make this story. It will concentrate on Naruto and my OC. He still has the same name and unique abilities which are the kunai and shadow clone thing.**

**So, the storyline is still the same but my OC is now only in par with kakashi.**

**So hope this story will be better and review please. **

**Disclaimer: All names and places here are property of Masashi Kishimoto, except for Maki. **

CHAPTER 1: SEALING OF THE DEMON

It was a cold and dark night when the nine tails attacked the village of Konoha. It was said that the demon could not be killed, which was actually true. Nothing could stop the demon and as the ninjas of Konoha desperately attemps to defend their home from the monster, the leader of the village, the Hokage was not seen among the shinobi fighting the monster.

Minato Namikaze, the current Hokage was at Konoha hospital, pacing around in circles like mad as he awaited the news of his wife, Kushina Uzumaki delivering their baby. Watching their Hokage in worry were four men. They were the previous Hokage; Sarutobi, his sensei the frog sannin; Jiraiya, his student; Hatake Kakashi and a an elite Jounin almost on par with Kakashi, Haruno Maki.

Haruno Maki was the same age as Kakashi and the two were considered the best elite Jounins in Konoha. Of course when it comes to skill, Kakashi was said to be better but that neither had sparred with the other seriously to actually test the theory. Maki had developed his own personal skills and he is known throughout the land as 'The replicator' for his use of confusion with his shadow clones.

There were two unique ways Maki fought with his special 'clone' kunai. The clone kunai were Maki's own set of custom kunais and with them, he could create shadow clones through two methods. One was by drawing out chakra from a seal Maki had placed in the clone kunai. The other method was if the clone kunai was able to draw blood on the victim. If blood touches the clone kunai, immediately a shadow clone would be created.

Minato of course knew of the kyuubi attacking his village and he had assured the four men that he would fight the kyuubi once he knows of his wife's condition. The Hokage was the only person that could probably defeat the demon as everyone else had tried. Maki knew that his brother was probably among the ninjas fighting the nine-tails. He prayed that he would make it before he arrived.

Finally, a doctor emerged from the delivery room, catching the five men's attention. Minato ran towards the doctor and grabbed the doctor by his shoulders.

"How is she? How is my son?"

"Your son is fine, Hokage-sama," The doctor assured him, "He is a healthy little boy. However, your wife..."

The doctor stopped there which brought fear to everyone. Minato was trembling as he felt the worst possible news would be heard, "What's wrong? What's wrong with my wife?"

"Your wife..." The doctor hesitated once more, "Your wife has died during child birth. We're not so sure of the cause but we have lost her. I'm sorry."

At that moment, everyone could see that Minato's spirit had been broken. His heart was broken to pieces and his legs actually went weak. He had to use the wall for support to keep him from falling. It was probably the first time that many had seen the Hokage so defeated.

"I... I want to see my son." Minato choked.

"But Minato, what about..." Sarutobi started but Minato cut him off.

"I need to spend five minutes at least with my son. The rest of you, try and hold him and I will come."

All four men nodded their heads. Everyone but Jiraiya disappeared in order to try and stop the Kyuubi. Or at least to buy some time until the Hokage arrived to stop the rampaging beast himself. The four men were after all Konoha's finest shinobi after Minato.

The demon continued on it's wild rampage, killing shinobi's that attacked it. All attacks were futile as the kyuubi had the power of regeneration. It healed so fast that all the attacks were not even affecting the kyuubi.

The copy ninja and replicator were jumping from rooftops to rooftops, hurrying to the north gate where the kyuubi could be seen. It seems that the kyuubi is getting closer and closer. Kakashi looked at the Jounin next to him.

"Let's just hope that we can delay the monster before sensei arrives."

Maki nodded, "If Hokage-sama can't stop the demon, no one can."

They reached the gates and found that most of their comrades were being treated of their wounds while some were retreating back. Kakashi cursed under his breath and raised his forehead protector, revealing his foreign eye, the Sharingan.

Maki took out his custom Kunai. The kunai was thinner and lighter than the normal kunai. This is to allow him to throw the kunai at a faster speed that the enemy could not see the kunai coming at him. This is so that his custom jutsu can work, which needs to draw enemy blood to create a shadow clone. He has about fifty of them at home and ten of them in his back pouch right now.

The two of them ran forwards the nine tailed demon. The demon felt the presence of the two shinobi as it sensed that they were both stronger than the previous shinobi and that they are equal in skills, it seems. The kyuubi started using one of it's tails to strike at the two incoming shinobi but they easily dodged it by jumping away.

While still in the air, Maki formed a set of seals.

"Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

A great fire emerged from Maki's mouth in the shape of that like a dragon. The fire blasted on it's face but the kyuubi felt no pain. It ignored the blast and it only felt like a mosquito bite. Kakashi also formed seals and once completed, used his right hand like as if he was waving.

"Raiton! Lightning blast technique!"

A wave of lightning emerged from the palm of Kakashi's hand and it strike the kyuubi on it's left muzzle. This hurt the kyuubi by a little but it was not enough. The two jounin's continued using ninjutsu to assault the kyuubi from a distance but their attacks were futile. The two jounins continued to distract the demon until they realized that they can't do anymroe as they were running out of chakra. As they retreated back, they saw a large puff of smoke was created in front of the demon. It was the toad king, Gamabunta and on top of it, was the fourth Hokage.

Maki jumped to a tree and watched on as the fourth Hokage fought against the legendary nine tailed beast. They were both equal but however, as the fight continued on, they could see who was winning. With the kyuubi's enormous amount of chakra, the beast cannot be stopped. The fourth Hokage was losing.

However, Maki observed something strange with the fourth Hokage. He was now holding a baby in his arms. When seen carefully, it was his son as the child had blonde hair like him. Why would the fourth Hokage be endangering his son? He started whispering something to his son and he formed the seals. Kakashi gasped when he saw the seals.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?" Maki asked.

Kakashi did not respond. He knew that seal though. It was a forbidden technique and no one has ever used it. Could it be that Minato knew that there was nothing else that could beat the beast. He was taken out of his thoughts as Maki's hands were on his shoulder and shaking him.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?"

"That seal," Kakashi said weakly, "That seal that he is doing. It is a forbidden jutsu. No one has ever used it as whoever uses it, will…"

Kakashi did not finish it. He did not want to say it but Maki somehow knew the answer. Whoever uses that technique will die. At that moment, Minato finished his seal and he said to something behind him but Maki could see no one. The kyuubi lunged forward and was about to strike when it suddenly stopped. It was like being sucked towards Minato.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the kyuubi was being sucked into the child. Minato was looking as the kyuubi was being sealed into his new born child. It was the only option. Once the kyuubi was fully sealed into the kyuubi, the shinigami started to take Minato's soul. Gamabunta placed the fourth to the ground and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Maki and Kakashi leapt towards the dying fourth Hokage. When they reached them, Kakashi placed Minato in his hands, holding him up.

"Kakashi…" Minato said weakly, struggling to not close his eyes.

"What sensei?" Kakashi was on the verge of crying, one that does not happen often.

"The kyuubi… is now sealed… in my son…" He said, pointing towards the newborn. Maki stared at the newborn baby and he had a black seal on his stomach. So it is true.

"Kakashi!" Minato said, now gasping for breath, "Naruto… My son… Tell the villagers… to treat him as… a hero… and not… a…."

Minato stopped there as he finally lost his fight for life. He closed his eyes and both jounin's present knew that his eyes will never open again. Kakashi wept on his sensei's chest and Maki just looked at the boy. He held the boy in his arms as the boy started to cry.

Several ninja's started to surround them and watched in grief at their fallen Hokage. They stared at the two top jounin. One of them was still crying while the other took started walking back to the village with the boy cradled in his arms. He can't take care of the child as he knew that his sister-in law will need to take care of her daughter now that his brother is dead.

Still, he will not abandon the boy. He is the fourth legacy and as the fourth's final request, he is to be viewed as the hero.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sarutobi-sama, what do you say?" Maki said in a concerned voice.

Sarutobi was now seated behind the Hokage's desk, taking a puff of smoke from his pipe. Sarutobi was having a headache. He was now once again the Hokage and he was old. He sighed heavily.

"We will respect the fourth's request that he be viewed as a hero."

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama," Maki interrupted, "We shouldn't take this only as a request. He is the fourth's son. He deserves the respect that his father was also the hero."

Sarutobi nodded, "Let us just hope that the villagers will listen to this request though it also might fall on deaf ears."

There was an awkward silence in the room now. Naruto was now asleep in Maki's arms after he comforted the child. Kakashi was not present as he carried his sensei's body to be buried personally by him. He was the remaining student from his team so he was the best to do so.

"How is your sister-in law?" Sarutobi asked.

Maki shook his head sadly, "Not too well. She's still blaming the kyuubi for his death and if she finds out about Naruto, I doubt she will listen to not blame the child. After all, she lost her husband."

"And do you blame Naruto?" Sarutobi asked sternly.

"No. Naruto here, will be like his father. He will bring honour to Konoha. In the future that is."

Sarutobi smiled. So it was decided then that Naruto for now will be placed in an orphanage and Kakashi and Maki will look after him to make sure that he is not harmed. Maki bowed and left Naruto with Sarutobi to do the job. He closed the door behind him and started to make his way home. He hoped that the villagers will indeed listen to the fourth Hokage's last request.

He started to think on Kakashi. He was the student of the fourth and the two of them were near equals but Kakashi just might be slightly better with his Sharingan. He sighed. It's not that they are rivals. They are just nothing but close friends/

Maki entered his house and found his sister-in law crying on the loss of her husband. He too know the loss. His brother was a good man and a wonderful shinobi. He sighed. His brother was a man that he respected a lot and loved him too. He knew that he made a good choice in finding her as a wife. She was beautiful with her pink hair and emerald eyes but he knew that he did not want her to suffer like this.

Sadly, Maki knew that he needed her to let it all out. He will try and comfort her tomorrow. He walked into a room where the girl was found sleeping. He smiled as he watched his niece sleep peacefully.

"Don't worry child," He whispered to her ear, even though she was asleep, "I'll take good care of you just like my brother took care of you. So sleep well, Sakura."


	2. Meeting the demon child

**hei, here's d new chapter. Anyways, important note is that whenever a jutsu is in english, it means that it is either my custom technique. but if it exists in the naruto world, then i apologise as i do not know many techniques.**

**So, please read and review.**

**Disclaimer:I do not own any of the characters. They are Misashi kishimoto's properties.**

CHAPTER 2: MEETING THE DEMON CHILD

"Damn it, where is the last one?" Maki asked himself. He was hiding in a tree branch, overlooking a bandit camp. Or what was left of a bandit camp. There were several dead bodies lying on the ground and some were burnt to death. Maki felt no remorse for them as they are a threat to the travelers from and to Konoha.

He thought that this B-rank mission would offer more of a challenge but he was wrong. The last bandit was a missing-nin from Konoha. He didn't really know that man but he left for some unknown reason. He looked around until he heard something.

He quickly jumped off the branch as three shurikens were tossed and it nearly got him. He landed on the ground only to find an exploding tag. He cursed under his breath and it exploded, blowing Maki to pieces.

"And you call yourself a Jounin?" A voice mocked, stepping out of his hiding place. He walked to where Maki should have died only to find not a single piece of his body there.

"Looking for me?" A voice said and the jounin bandit was kicked to the ground face-first. He grunted in pain and looked at his attacker, only to find that it was Maki himself.

"How?"

Maki smirked, "You didn't think I am known as the replicator for no reason did you. When you tossed those shurikens and I jumped away, I created a shadow clone to thrown me to another branch while my shadow clone took your trap."

"Damn you!" The missing-nin yelled and charged at Maki. Maki took out his custom kunai and the two engage in a kunai fight, metal against metal. The sound of the metal clashing against one another can be heard throughout the forest. They met once more only to block one another and Maki quickly formed his seals.

"Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Fireballs emerged from Maki's mouth, all aimed at the bandit. The bandit was able to avoid most of it but the last fireball blasted the man's shoulder, severely burning it. He clenched his wound and quickly formed his own seals.

"Doton! Earth crushing technique!"

The earth below Maki slowly formed a pit and the pit suddenly raised up to Maki's body, attempting to crush him into a pancake. Maki, thinking quickly, used the pit to kick himself out, and he made it by a second. The sound of walls crashing one another were heard and Maki was safe from being crushed.

Maki formed his seals again.

"Katon! Firewall technique!"

Maki blew out fire and the fire landed right in front of the bandit and suddenly, burst into a large wall of fire, blocking the bandit's view. He tried to see past but he could not. Maki, on the other side smirked and threw his custom kunai at the bandit and it plunged on the bandit's chest, blood spurting out. That was his end as the moment blood was drawn, a shadow clone of Maki was created.

The bandit looked at the shadow clone as it placed a kunai on his neck. He could feel his life coming to an end and his last words, "So that is why he is given that name."

The shadow clone sliced the man's neck and he fell over, dead. Once he completed his job, the shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Maki nodded to himself. Mission accomplished. He jumped on a tree branch, looked back at the camp once more and made his way to Konoha, which was about ten miles away.

He sighed heavily. It has been five years since the kyuubi incident and Naruto is now five years old. He has grown to be quite the hyperactive kid though he is still abused by the villagers from time to time. Kakashi and Maki have missions that takes days to complete and that is when the villagers normally insult and sometimes even attack Naruto, though it is not life threatening. Still, he is just a kid that should have these kind of troubles.

It was just like the third said. The request of the fourth fell on deaf ears. None listened to the speech Sarutobi gave after the attack and they all took out their anger for the death of their loved ones on Naruto. Even his own sister-in law. He actually had a big argument with her a few weeks ago regarding Naruto and called Maki himself a demon for protecting Naruto.

Heck, even some ninja's were said to attack Naruto. They threw shurikens at him and other ninja tools but luckily none of them were aimed at the important targets such as the heart. They aimed his hands and legs but it is still pure torture. Naruto somehow had the ability to heal himself.

The thought of that angered him and he placed more chakra to his feet, speeding up his journey. He saw a group of shinobi's walking down the path. It looks like they have a mission. This means that he was near Konoha and after three minutes of jumping from tree branch to tree branch, he saw the massive gates of Konoha.

There has been so many problems with Konoha over the years. The defection of the snake sannin just because he was not elected Hokage, the death of the fourth. Konoha has lost so many great ninjas.

He brushed those troublesome thoughts out of his head and started to walk towards the Hokage tower. After all, he has to give him the report of his mission and that he has finished off one of the missing nin's of Konoha. It was lucky that the missing-nin was not a very powerful nin.

He waved at several passer-by's. He knew some of them as friends when they were kids. They failed their 'real' gennin test and became civilians of Konoha. They still can fight but not as efficient as the gennin but at least they can defend themselves better than normal civilians.

"Hei, Maki!" A voice called him. He turned to the source of the voice and it was another of his good friend, Iruka.

"Yo, Iruka!"

"You came back from a mission?" He asked, patting his back.

"Yeah. I was just about to give my report to Hokage-sama. And what about you? Have you finished teaching those annoying brats at the academy?"

Iruka laughed, "Yeah. They can be quite a handful but I guess I got used to it."

Maki shook his head, "I don't know how you can handle them, Iruka. If I was to take your place for a day, I might end up at a mental hospital."

The two continued their small chat until Iruka had to excuse himself as he had a meeting at the academy. Maki understood. He, too had to get to the Hokage and he realized he was getting late. He jumped up on a rooftop and started to make his way to the Hokage tower.

He walked up the stairs. He cursed and wondered why can't they just build an elevator. These stairs are so many and it was starting to tire him out. Luckily that Gai was not here. He would for sure use this opportunity to do his so called 'youth training' or something like that. He chuckled softly as he was lucky not to have him as a rival but Kakashi instead.

He walked the familiar corridors and when he reached the Hokage's door, he knocked on it three times.

"Enter!" A voice commanded and he obliged. Turning the door knob, he pushed open the door and there, the Hokage was sited. He was really getting too old for the job. It's not that he cannot fight, he is still powerful but he used to be far stronger than he is now.

"Ah, Maki. So, you have already completed your mission, I assume?"

"Hai, Hokage-same. The bandits are all taken care of. There were about nine of them and most of them are around low to high chuunin level. It seems that one of our missing nin, a jounin, was their leader. I believe his name… was something like Imati."

Sarutobi nodded, "I know that name. He left Konoha a few months back, he attempted to steal one of our forbidden scrolls but was found out before he could take it. Good job Maki. I guess you will be receiving higher pay."

Maki grinned from ear to ear, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. Is that all, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi nodded and Maki formed a simple seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke. He appeared on one of the rooftops. His stomach was grumbling for food and he couldn't argue with it. He jumped down from the rooftop and walked around the streets to find a suitable restaurant to fill his stomach. With the new pay, he could eat in a fancy restaurant. His licked his lips as he started to think of all the food he wanted to eat today.

He was taken out of his thoughts when someone pushed him, roughly. He looked at the one that pushed him and it was a villager, running away. He saw several other villagers heading his way, all running. He had to jump away to let them pass. He ignored them until he heard one of them say, "Kill that demon boy!"

Maki's eyes became big. He knew he had to act fast. They were all yelling something like find and kill him. He jumped up on a rooftop and followed the mob, and since they were so preoccupied with trying to find Naruto, he didn't have to worry in concealing his presence. The chase took five minutes when he saw even more villagers chasing a small blonde boy, who was screaming for help only to be ignored.

The mob were even wielding weapons. Some with rakes, some with large kitchen knives while others were throwing stones at the boy. He quickly ran ahead of the mob and he could see the boy was crying for help. Maki took out his kunai to prepare himself.

The boy tripped and fell to the ground, scraping his knee. He turned to look at the villagers chasing him, "Please mister. I didn't do anything wrong. Please don't hurt me!" He begged.

The villagers ignored his pleas and all were cursing at him. Finally, one took the first step and threw a knife at the boy. Maki was surprised that the villager had a good aim and Maki threw his kunai. He did not aim to block the knife but he aimed it at the ground in front of Naruto. He had to use his other custom ability. (If you read my other story, you should know his other ability in creating shadow clone with his kunai without drawing blood.)

The kunai landed on the ground and Maki formed a simple seal.

"Kai!"

A shadow clone was created at the same spot where his kunai was. He made it. The knife plunged through the shadow clone, dispelling it but he saved Naruto. The villagers were shocked and that was when Maki landed right in front of Naruto, protecting him.

He looked at the all of the angry mob with a look of pure disgust. "If you dare touch this boy, I will kill you!" He said in a harsh tone.

The leader of the mob scoffed, "You can't stop all of us. You are one while we are many. If you do not move out of the way, you will die with the demon!"

At that moment, several puff of smoke was created and several shadow clones of Maki were created, all of them grabbing the nearest villager and placed their kunai at their necks.

"I will say it once more," The real Maki said, "Leave, or I will kill you! It seems you do not know me to actually underestimate me."

One of the villager, a woman, realized who he was, "Maki… The replicator…"

The nick name caused several of the villagers to cower in fear. Most of them started to apologize while others looked at Maki in silence. Slowly, the shadow clones of Maki released them and they instantly ran from the spot. Maki looked at them and narrowed his eyes to make sure they're all gone. Then, he dispelled each and every one of the clones.

He turned to look at the blonde boy was hugging his knees, crying softly. He bent down and tapped the boy on his shoulder. "Naruto, it's okay. It's over. Those bad men won't harm you anymore."

Naruto looked up at Maki with tears in his eyes, "You won't hurt me, will you mister?"

Maki shook his head, "No. I want to protect you, Naruto."

"How do you know my name?"

Maki shrugged, "I just know."

At that moment, Naruto's stomach growled in hunger and Maki chuckled. He also have not eaten his lunch. "Are you hungry, Naruto?"

Naruto merely nodded and to at least lighten up his mood, he asked again, "So, come on. We will eat together. Just tell me where do you want to eat."

Maki offered his hand and the boy hesitantly grabbed it. Maki pulled him up to his feet and the two started walking.

"I want to eat at Ichiraku's Ramen." The boy said.

"Ichiraku," Maki said to no one particular, "Well, it has been a long time since I ate there. Minato liked Ramen and he used to treat me and Kakashi."

"Who's Minato?" The blonde boy asked, looking at Maki.

Maki cursed softly at himself. He rubbed his head, "Oh, he's a friend of mine."

Maki breathed in relief that the boy did not press the question further. After all, it was the third's orders that the boy is to not know of his heritage until he come of age. This is to protect him from the Rock country as they are the enemies of the fourth and would not one his son to be a threat to them.

Despite now being at peace, Konoha and the Rock are still not in friendly terms. They will attack each other on sight and that is why it would be best to avoid such conflict.

They reached Ichiraku Ramen a few minutes later. Maki observed that the villagers were glaring at the boy. Some of them whispered among another and others attempted to say something harsh to the boy but thought better of it as he was accompanied by a ninja.

"Hei, Old man!" Naruto said loudly upon entering the shop.

A man wearing a white shirt turned around and saw Naruto. He gave a smile, "Oh, Naruto! So good to see my favourite customer!"

A younger woman came from the back and greeted Naruto, "Naruto, what would you have for today?"

"My usual, Ayame-nichan."

The woman, with long brown hair nodded and turned to Maki. Maki and Ayame looked at each other and Ayame blushed. Maki too blushed but he tried to hide it. The old man, known as Teuchi asked Maki, "So, what would you have?"

Maki snapped out of his gaze and looked at the old man, "Erm… I guess the shrimp Ramen will be good."

Teuchi nodded and the two started to prepare their customer's meals. Naruto was actually drooling in anticipation, fidgeting around in his seat and asking the chef to hurry up. Maki chuckled to himself. It seems that Naruto has the same appetite for Ramen as his father.

After a few minutes, Ayame brought two large bowls of Ramen. One, she handed it to Naruto and the other to Ayame. Maki thanked her and she blushed once more. Maki was actually smiling and he knew that he somehow caught her attention. Not that he mind, she was quite beautiful in his eyes.

"Itadikamasu!" Naruto said loudly, breaking his chopsticks.

Maki, having his manners calmly broke the chopsticks and ate slowly while Naruto ate his Ramen with unmatchable speed. It was probably a record and Maki observed that his the fourth had better manners then Naruto. Well, he can't really blame Naruto since he is right now an orphan and had no one to teach him about table manners.

"So, Naruto," Maki said, turning to look at the boy, "How is life at the orphanage?"

Naruto stopped eating. He had a depressed look suddenly and did not answer Maki's question. "What's wrong?" Maki asked, worry in his voice.

"I no longer live in the orphanage."

"WHAT!" Maki was now standing up now from shock. What happened? He knew that Naruto was supposed to live at the orphanage, that was the deal.

"They kicked me out of the orphanage two weeks ago. They said they did not want to take care of me because I'm a demon. I have been living in the streets and just take in scraps of food. Sometimes I come here and old man and Ayame-nichan offers me free Ramen."

That news literally took a toll on Maki's temper. He slammed his fists on the table, shocking the three people in the Ramen stand. This greatly angered the replicator as Naruto was actually kicked out just because he contained the kyuubi. It's not like as if he was the kyuubi himself. He cursed, feeling like destroying the orphanage but refrained himself from such thoughts.

"Naruto, once you are done eating with your lunch, you are coming with me to the Hokage."

Naruto looked at Maki with a scared expression on his face, "Please mister. Don't hurt me. I…"

"Naruto," Maki said, interrupting Naruto, "I'm not going to hurt you. We just need to solve this little problem with the Hokage on why you were kicked out of the orphanage."

Naruto slowly nodded and started eating his Ramen, slowly this time. Maki was trying to calm himself down. This village has definitely disrespected the fourth. His son was being treated like thrash when he is actually the saviour of the village. If he wasn't born, Minato would not have anyone to place the kyuubi in and the village would have been annihilated.

After Naruto was done, Maki paid for their meals and he grabbed Naruto by the wrist. He formed a simple seal and looked down at Naruto, "Don't let go."

After that, the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared at the Hokage tower. Naruto was amazed on how he got here but did not question on how he got here. After all, Maki was a ninja so he knew this must be a jutsu he performed.

Maki let go of Naruto's wrist and the two walked into the Hokage tower, making their way to the Hokage's room. It took a while to get there and Maki took the time to calm himself down. Not because he was angered at the Hokage but at the villagers. He couldn't believe that his own sister-in law was one of them. When they finally reached the door leading to the Hokage's room, Maki knocked on the door.

"Enter!" A voice said.

Maki opened the door and lead Naruto in. The Hokage was having a smoke with his pipe and was quite surprised to see Maki brining in Naruto. Sarutobi looked at Maki and then took a quick glance to Naruto and then back to Maki.

"What is it, Maki?" Sarutobi asked, blowing out a puff of smoke.

"Hokage-same," Maki began, bowing slightly, "I have urgent matters that I need to discuss with you and it regards Naruto here."

Sarutobi immediately put his full attention and took out his pipe. He placed the pipe back in his drawer. He rested his chin on the palm of his right hand, "So, what is it?"

"Hokage-sama, according to Naruto, he was kicked out of the orphanage two weeks ago. Naruto said they kicked him out for saying he was a… well, a demon though I think that they are crazy for saying such things."

Sarutobi listened to every word and nodded slowly. He was impressed that Maki could come up with something to say that he did not know about the kyuubi inside Naruto.

"So, what do you propose Maki? We definitely cannot put Naruto here back into the orphanage."

"I wanted to take Naruto to live with me but I can't do that as I have to take care of my niece and you know my sister-in law. So, I was thinking that we give Naruto a room in an apartment."

Silence. The Hokage seemed to be in deep thought thinking on what Maki said. Naruto himself liked the idea that he could live by himself but he wondered how he was going to live with no money.

"I guess," The Hokage finally said, "That is the best possible solution. For today, Naruto can live with me and I will find him a place to stay by tomorrow."

"But old man…" Naruto started to protest but was interrupted once again.

"Naruto!" Maki scolded the blonde boy, "This is the Hokage. You have to show respect to him."

Sarutobi started to laugh lightly, holding his pipe, "It's okay Maki. So, what is the problem, young man?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "How will I live with no money?"

"That is not a problem." The Hokage replied, "I will give you a weekly allowance. But you will have to spend it wisely."

Naruto thanked the Hokage and was actually smiling from ear to ear. With that taken care of, Maki thanked the Hokage for his time and said goodbye to Naruto. He formed the simple seal once again and was about to be gone when he felt someone tugging his right hand. He looked to find Naruto pulling his hand.

"Eh, Maki. Will you visit me when you can? I get awfully lonely and you are one of the adults to treat me nicely other than the old man at the Ramen stand."

Maki looked at the boy and he could hardly reject that. He looked so cute and he was the fourth's son so he could not see why not.

"Sure. I'll visit you when Hokage tells me your address."

With that, he disappeared from the Hokage's office. Naruto grinned happily and started to take a seat next to the Hokage, talking about his day. The Hokage also took this opportunity to escape from the load of paper work stacked right in front of him. 'I really am getting too old for this job.' The Hokage thought to himself.

The sun was already starting to set below the mountains and Maki started to make his way home. He spent the rest of the afternoon after delivering Naruto to the Hokage was training. He may have been considered a powerful ninja by the five countries but that doesn't mean he cannot improve himself. After all, he's still nothing compared to anyone of the legendary sannin.

His stomach was grumbling once more. He realized he did not really eat his lunch at the Ramen stand earlier today since Naruto told him about the orphanage, he did not finish eating his Ramen. He placed two of his hands in his pockets to warm himself. It was getting strangely cold.

He suddenly thought about the girl at the Ramen stand. 'Ayame is her name, eh?' Maki thought to himself. She was cute to him and looked to be fairly young. Maki was about twenty seven years old while she seems to be either in her late teens or early twenties. He sighed softly. How can he stand a chance with her when her father is watching her everyday.

He remembered his brother had always told him that he either had no abilities to get a girl or was too shy. He chuckled to himself. That was a conversation that occurs every day whenever they meet every since he got married to Suyuki, his sister-in law. He was taken out of his thoughts when he sighted his house. Or more his brother's house, which inhabits his niece and sister-in law.

He opened the door and then closed it behind him, as quiet as possible. He could smell food being cooked in the kitchen and took a quick glance at the kitchen. He saw his niece watching her mother cooking their dinner. Sakura was curiously looking into the pot as Suyuki stirred the insides of the pot.

The sight of his niece watching her mother cook brought a smile to his face. What a happy family it is, if only her father was still alive. 'Damn it, why did you have to die?' Maki thought at his brother. Now, Maki has to take care of his brother's family, not that he mind them. He loved his niece like he was her daughter and Suyuki like a sister, despite the arguments he had with her.

He then sneaked past them and walked upstairs to relief himself. He had to take a bath before dinner. That would relax him. He walked into his room and started undressing himself. He wrapped a towel on his waist and walked into the bathroom. He locked the door behind and then hanged the towel on a towel rack and then walked into the shower.

He let out a groan of relief as the water poured down. He could feel every strain of his muscle start to relax and he started washing himself clean. He was quite dirty from the fight he had with that missing-nin earlier today. At least now he had the money to support this family for a week. He was also given three days to relax by the Hokage before he has to report for his next mission.

After about seven minutes of washing himself, he walked out of the shower and wiped himself dry. Once that was done, he wrapped that same towel to his waist and walked out of the bathroom to his room. He then picked out a tank top and black shorts. There was knock on his door and he opened it and found his niece there, smiling at him. He smiled back, "What is it, Sakura?"

"Mummy says that dinner is ready."

"Alright then. Let's go before your mummy beats uncle, eh?"

Sakura laughed at her uncle and was then grabbed by Maki. He held her tight and placed her on his back, giving her a piggy back ride. He started to run, making his way to the dining room with Sakura laughing the whole way. When they reached the dining room, they found Suyuki placing the last dish on the table. Suyuki smiled at the two of them and took a seat.

It was a round table. Suyuki and Sakura sat next to each other while Maki on the opposite of Suyuki. There was one empty seat and the seat used to belong to his brother. They all started to eat in silence and Suyuki had to help Sakura to eat some of her food such as cutting the meat into smaller pieces.

After dinner, Suyuki was in the kitchen cleaning up and washing the dishes while Maki and Sakura were watching something on TV. It was Sakura's favourite show, and Maki did not really pay attention to the show as it actually bore him but he had to endure it for the sake of his niece.

"Alright, time to bed little missy!" Maki instructed the moment the show finished.

Sakura pouted, "Come on, uncle Maki. Can't I stay up a little longer?"

"Of course you can."

"Really?" Sakura had a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Yes, when you're old enough." With that, he quickly grabbed her and ran up the stairs with Sakura complaining throughout the whole journey to her room.

Maki had to kick the bedroom door open since his hands are occupied. They entered the room and he placed Sakura on her bed. Sakura accepted her fate and hugged one of her stuffed bears. Maki smiled at the sight of his niece and placed her blanket up to her shoulders.

He rubbed a strain of pink hair away from her face, "Sweet dreams, my little angel."

Sakura was already sleeping and did not hear Maki. She just shifted in her bed and Maki quietly and slowly closed her bedroom door and left the door slightly open for some light to enter her room.

He walked back down and saw down on a couch, watching another show. Suyuki joined him a few minutes later, taking a seat at the other end of the couch. She placed both of her feet on the couch and turned to face Maki.

"Is she asleep?"

Maki nodded, "Yeah. Don't worry, I won't let her stay up late until she's old enough."

Suyuki sighed, "You shouldn't promise her that. Now she will be expecting to stay up late when she's old enough. A girl do need her beauty sleep and should sleep early."

Maki laughed nervously, "Sorry, sorry. I'll keep that in mind."

"That's what you said last time."

"I did?"

Suyuki rolled her eyes, "You're hopeless."

The two shared a laugh and continued watching the TV again. They watched a documentary and history about the sand village. Maki knew most of the facts. After all, he is a ninja. It's not like the show is going to give out important information of the sand village. This show is more for the normal citizens that do not know anything about the ninja world.

When the program ended, they started to switch every lights out. They switched off the TV and the lights. When that was done, they said goodnight to each other and went to their respective rooms. Suyuki's room was closer to Sakura since she is the mother.

Maki closed his bedroom door and plopped down onto his bed. He rested his head on his pillow and two of his hands on the back of his head, staring at the ceiling. He thought about his brother and then it shifted to Naruto. At least now Naruto will ahve his own place to stay and Maki will be there for him as a friend.

He wondered if he can teach Naruto some jutsu's to help him. He will have to ask the Hokage for permission for that. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will update soon.**


	3. Cherry blossom meets the demon

**Alright, here's the new chapter. Hope you will enjoy it and please review. Even if its short, haha. Even if its to criticize me. Lol. Anyways, I will also apologise as I am not really good in making fluffs even i really read a lot of narusaku fics. I really love this pair.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters here but maki. You know who they belong to**

CHAPTER 3: CHERRY BLOSSOM MEETS THE FOX

Naruto woke up in his new apartment, yawning loudly. He remembered being carried to his new apartment by the Hokage and then being tucked to bed. He wondered if that was how it felt being tucked to bed by a grandfather.

He had never had such a peaceful sleep since he could remember. He always had trouble sleeping in the orphanage and he was finally out of that hell. He was so relieved. Yesterday was the best day of his life. First he was saved by a man from an attack and now he had a new place to live with no adults scolding him and beating him for even the slightest thing such as spilling milk or something.

He got off his bed and started to make his way to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and for the first time in his five years, he realized he had some sort of whisker marks. Three whisker marks on each cheek. He touched them and it felt real. He wondered about it and after a couple of seconds, stopped what he was doing and brushed his teeth and took a quick shower.

Once he was done, he realized that he needed to eat breakfast and since he just moved in here yesterday, he had no food or anything. He decided to eat at Ichiraku Ramen. After all, he was treated by that guy yesterday and now he was given some money by the Hokage so he may as well spend it. He changed into another of his orange jumpsuit and then walked out of his apartment, locking the door behind him.

As he walked down the streets, he ignored the hateful stares he is receiving right now by the villagers. Some of them merely ignored him as they grow tired of insulting him. The only adult that was never mean to him was that old man at the Ramen stand. He just said that he knew Naruto was a good boy and not as a container.

He once asked the old man what he meant by container and the old man said he was talking about giving him a container of Ramen. Teuchi was lucky that Naruto bought that excuse.

Reaching the Ramen stand, he walked in and took a seat on a stool. Ayame saw Naruto and gave a heart warming smile, "Hei Naruto! You're back!"

He smiled back, "Yeah! I'm here for breakfast and I can't wait!"

She laughed, "Alright, so what will you have?"

"One large miso pork! Oh, and where is the old man?"

She took down his order while answering him, "Dad's at the back, preparing the broth for the morning. Since we're still preparing our shop, you will have to wait a couple more minutes than usual. Are you okay with that?"

Naruto grumbled on his seat, "Fine, just hurry."

She chuckled and just before she gave her father the order, she leaned down near Naruto and asked, "Where's your friend from yesterday?"

"The guy with the dark pink hair? I don't know, why? Ayame-nichan wants to ask him on a date?" Naruto responded, giving her his famous foxy grin.

Ayame instantly blushed hard and went to the back of the store to give Naruto's orders to Naruto.

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At the same time, a certain pink haired five year old just woken up from her slumber. She yawned cutely and looked out her window. The sun was shining brightly into her room and she had to use her hands to block the sunlight. She scratched her long pink hair and then started to make her way to the bathroom for a cool, refreshing shower.

It took her about ten minutes to finish cleaning herself and once she had dried her hair and body, she started to brush her teeth. As she was brushing her teeth, she looked at her forehead. She frowned at the sight. It was slightly larger than normal. She had been teased a few times by some of the older kids. If her mother, or even worse, her uncle knows about this, those kids will for sure not see the next day.

Her uncle can be very protective at times. She doesn't want the other kids to think that she needs someone to fight for her and that is the only reason she has not told her mother or uncle about her bullies. She just hoped that today would be okay.

Walking down the stairs and into the dining room for breakfast, she only found her mother there. 'That's strange, normally uncle Maki would eat breakfast with us.' Sakura thought to herself.

Taking a seat next to her mother, she started eating her pancakes her mother had prepared for breakfast.

"Mom, where is uncle Maki?" She asked her mom.

"He had to do an early report with the Hokage." She said, pouring Sakura a glass of milk.

Sakura merely nodded to her mother's response and continued eating her breakfast. She ate quickly and she was running late to meet one of her only friend, Ino. She was a blonde girl and from a ninja clan, the Yamanaka clan.

After she ate her breakfast, she ran up to her room and grabbed a red cloth that was given to her by Ino. It was given to hide her huge forehead. She could never thank Ino for not teasing her on her forehead and being her friend. She really thought that she would never have a friend for her entire life.

She left her house and started to make her way to the park. Ino had said that they would meet her at the swings. She tied the red cloth on her head to allow her hair to fall forward, thus blocking her forehead. When she finally reached the swings, she found that Ino was not yet there so she sat at the swings to wait for her until her nightmare arrived.

Four boys, around the age of ten to twelve were walking in the park and when they spotted the pink haired girl, started to make their way towards her. She hung her head low, hoping that they have not yet seen her but she already knew that her pink hair was a dead giveaway.

The leader, a rather plump kid with brown hair reached her first, crossing his hands across his chest, "Hei, forehead! What are you doing here?"

Sakura did not look up. They will definitely know that she was trying to hide her forehead with her hair and they will definitely started to pull it. She winced in pain when she felt someone pulling her hair.

"Hei, he's talking to you!" One of the boy said, pulling her hair so that she would face them.

Sakura could already fill her tears starting to pour down her eyes. She hated this! They all started to tease and pull her hair. Some of them would hit her arm and throw sand at her face but all of it stopped when she heard a voice.

"Hei, what are you guys doing?" A voice commanded.

The plump leader stopped what he was doing and looked at the voice. It belonged to a little blonde kid with an orange shirt with blue sweatpants.

"Why don't you just run along kid before you also get hurt?"

"I will, once you stop bullying her. A beautiful and cute girl like her does not deserve to be treated like this!" The boy yelled, pointing at Sakura.

Despite being in a bad situation, Sakura could not help but blush that the boy had said she was cute and actually beautiful. However, she knew that the boy was going to be in trouble when the plump leader started to crack his knuckles. He called two of his friends to follow him while the other two held onto Sakura.

"I'm going to beat you up just the way my dad tells me to beat you up, you stupid boy!" The leader sneered. Naruto, despite trying to be brave knew he was in a bad situation. He tried to think of a way to beat the older kids until he spotted someone that just came on time to help.

The man was on one of the tree's tree branch watching the whole thing. Naruto just glanced at the man for a quick second and then turned to face the older boys again, crossing his chest and gave a foxy grin.

"You had better leave now before a friend of mine does it himself!" Naruto explained with a very confident voice.

A boy on the right of the of the leader scoffed, "And who is your friend? Another pathetic five year old kid like yourself? You are just making me laugh!"

The three boys then felt something land directly behind them. The leader of the five boys could tell that whoever was the blonde's friend was most likely an adult. They slowly turned to face a man with dark pink hair just like Sakura and the hair was shoulder length. The man was wearing a Konoha headband and a Chuunin vest. They gulped loudly and slowly started to back away.

"Like my friend said, leave now before you incur my wrath." The man instructed them calmly.

They didn't need to be told twice. All of them fled the scene, some actually tumbled to the ground while running. Maki watched them run away in fear and then turned to look at Naruto but he has already disappeared from his spot. He looked around and found him kneeling in front of his niece, asking her he was okay.

Maki watched from where he was as Naruto helped his niece up. It is really sad that such a nice boy like Naruto would be treated cruelly by the villagers. He can't wait to give something that might excite Naruto."

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, pulling her up.

Sakura merely nodded, "Thank you." She said, not realizing that a tear raced down her cheek.

"Hei," Naruto said, making Sakura look up at him, "A beautiful girl like you shouldn't cry. Why would those guys treat you like that anyway?"

She hesitated. If she told him that it was because of her huge forehead, he would definitely push her away. "Come on, tell me." Naruto pushed."

She hesitated, "Because... because of my... forehead."

Naruto was now confused, "Your forehead? What's wrong with your forehead?"

"It... It is huge!"

She then untied her bow and allowed her hair to part away, revealing an indeed large forehead. Naruto looked at her forehead and then chuckled softly. Sakura heard this and thought he must be laughing at her forehead.

"Having a huge forehead is not bad. Actually, I think it makes you more beautiful!" Naruto complimented her.

Sakura looked up and saw that he was smiling at her. She was confused. This is the first time someone said that he liked her forehead. She did not know what to think. Naruto then asked, "Say, what's your name?"

She looked at the young boy in the eyes and realized he had cerulean blue eyes. Those eyes were magical to her, so beautiful. It was as blue as the ocean and the boy was waving in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Maki, who was watching the whole thing, chuckled softly at this. He was now leaning against a tree, his arms crossed on his chest. Maki looked at his niece lost in her thought. 'Don't tell me she is already falling at such a young age.' He thought to himself.

Sakura is now finally back to the real world. "Sorry," She apologised, "My name is Haruno Sakura."

Naruto nodded, "I am Uzumaki Naruto. Can we be friends?"

Sakura looked dumbfounded. This boy is so straightforward and she didn't mind being her friend. He did look kind of cute. "I guess... so."

Naruto gave another of his foxy grin, "Here, why don't you meet my friend? Where did he go now?"

Naruto started to look around and then found him. He ran to the man beneath a tree. Maki saw Naruto coming so he emerged from the shadows of the tree, "Good morning, Naruto."

Naruto waved, "Morning! Thanks for helping me just now!"

Maki scoffed, "That's alright. I just happened to pass by and saw you helping that girl. That's a pretty honourable thing to do but you were smaller and outnumbered. They had to be taught a lesson anyway."

"Yeah, now come on!" Naruto said, grabbing Maki's wrists and dragging him along. Maki was quite surprised at the boy's strength that the boy was able to pull him along. It's not that he resisted but he could tell that the boy was quite strong for his age.

Sakura had her jaw open when Naruto saw who his friend. 'Oh no, what is Naruto doing with my uncle? Now he's going to know about those bullies!' Sakura thought.

'**Will you calm down? It's not like he's going to kill us!'** A voice scolded Sakura.

'What? Who's that?' Sakura knew that no one was talking to her so who was that?

'**I'm in your head. Let's just say that I am your inner self.'** The voice, who looked exactly like Sakura said.

'What? Inner-self? What the heck are you talking about?'

'**We'll talk later. It looks like your new crush and your uncle has arrived.' **The inner self then faded away.

Sakura was about to say something when she felt a presence right in front of her. She looked at Naruto and then to her uncle. She gulped loudly when her uncle looked at her with eyebrows raised. Suddenly, he had a happy expression on his face, smiling at her. Now Sakura was confused.

"Eh, Sakura-chan, this is my friend, Maki!" Naruto introduced to her very own uncle, which was quite weird for Maki and Sakura.

Maki looked down at Naruto, "You know, Naruto, I never told you my name yesterday. How do you know my name?"

Naruto laughed nervously and scratched his head, "I heard the old man call you Maki yesterday so I assumed that was your name."

Maki nodded slowly. For a young boy to pay attention to something he shouldn't, that's quite impressive. "Okay, fine. As long as you weren't stalking me or something."

Naruto grinned and then turned back to the pink haired girl, "So, Sakura, why don't we play on the swings or something?"

Sakura shrugged, "I was waiting for Ino so I guess we could play for a while."

Naruto nodded and Sakura sat on one of the swings. Naruto was about to ask Maki to help them push when he realized that he has disappeared. He was a ninja so Naruto was not surprised that he did not realized he was gone. Shrugging off, he sat on the swing next to Sakura and the two just swing by themselves.

Sakura, in the meantime was having an argument with her inner-self.

'For the last time, I don't like him! He's just a friend.' Sakura said to her inner.

'**Whatever. I am your inner, I know what you truly feel or want so you may as well stop lying to yourself.'** Her inner replied.

'I'm just nervous because I have never had a friend that is a boy.' Sakura explained.

'**Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, what are we going to say to your uncle later? He now knows that we have been bullied and will be overprotective again.'**

'I don't know.' Sakura said and the conversation ended there.

The two continued playing by the swing when a couple of adults surrounded them, all with angry glares. Sakura looked at each and every one of them and she cowered in fear. Naruto did not look up. He knew they were all looking at him and he just looked down at the ground.

'Great, I just had a new friend and these people are now going to ruin it. She will now probably hate me too.' Naruto thought to himself and sighed in despair.

A villager pushed Naruto off the swing by pushing his head hard. Naruto landed hard on his head which caused him to cry in pain. He rubbed it only to feel someone kick his back so hard that he coughed as he could feel all his air left his lungs.

"You demon! How dare you try to befriend one of the unsuspecting child!" A female villager spat.

Naruto was now at the mercy of this angered mob. He tried to crawl away only to feel someone drag one of his legs back to the centre where they continued kicking him and insulting once again.

Sakura watched in shock as her friend gets beaten. One of the villagers grabbed her and held her tight as she watched her friend in the centre being kicked. She felt tears running down her cheek and wanted to run next to her new friend but the villager held her tightly.

Then, a large man stepped forward and was about to lay a punch on Naruto in the face when he felt the earth tremble. He was too preoccupied on going to attack Naruto that he did not notice the tremble. Just as he was about to hit Naruto, the ground raised up and covered Naruto. The man punched the protected ground and he yelled in pain as he broke his knuckles.

All of the villagers stopped their ranting and assault and stepped back in shock. Then, a two figures emerged each standing in front of Naruto who was now under that protected shield. One was reading an orange book and his face was mostly covered by a mask and a headband, only revealing his right eye and had a silver hair.

The other was a man with dark pink hair, reaching shoulder length with a kunai drawn. The villagers knew these two men, the two top Jounin of the village. The copy ninja and the replicator.

"You know what really makes me angry, Maki?" The silver haired man asks.

Maki, never leaving his eyes off the villagers shook his head, "No. What?"

"When first, villagers attack an innocent child and I have to come here when I could be reading my book."

Maki rolled his eyes, "I think anything can make you angry when it involves your book."

Kakashi chuckled, "I guess you're right. Well, time to disperse the crowd."

Kakashi placed his book on his pouch and lazily turned to face the crowd. And then, with unbelievable speed, he formed seals. No one could be able to see what he is doing.

"Doton! Shaking of the earth technique!"

The ground around Kakashi started to shake wildly. The villagers quickly ran away from the copy ninja, screaming at the top of their lungs. Maki chuckled at the sight. This technique is used normally for invasion on a village. It causes no harm but when used on a village, the villagers will panic and cause chaos in the village and the ninjas will not be able to properly defend the village.

When the shakes stopped, Kakashi released the technique and released the technique that was protecting Naruto. He was hurt quite badly but he was healing quite fast. Maki shook his head in disbelief. He just left the two alone for a minute to get Kakashi and he was already attacked.

"You better take your niece home. I'll take care of Naruto here." Kakashi instructed the pink haired Jounin. Maki nodded.

"You had better take Naruto to the hospital. I'll tell him the good news later tonight."

Kakashi nodded and leaned down, grabbing Naruto and holding him up to his chest. He looked at Maki one last time and formed a simple seal. There was a puff of smoke and then, Kakashi disappeared along with Naruto.

Maki sighed and turned to face her niece, who was crying. She is probably confused and didn't know what is going on. He walked over to her and hugged her, rubbing her back trying to calm her down. It took him several minutes to calm her down and then he wiped her tears on her cheeks.

"It's okay now. Come on, we have to go home."

"How come they attacked Naruto, uncle?" She asked as Maki held her.

Maki did not answer. He knew telling the young generation is forbidden by the Hokage and he couldn't tell her niece. Naruto needs a friend and she might hate him after this.

"I don't know, Sakura." He lied and he was lucky that Sakura did not ask him anymore questions. She snuggled more into his chest and he started walking towards back his house. He would have just jumped on the rooftops but Suyuki would be pissed off. She had told him that she did not want him to risk dropping Sakura.

While she was carrying Sakura, he just remembered the incident on the bullies. Looking down at Sakura, he asked, "Sakura, why didn't you tell me about the bullies?"

Sakura stopped breathing. She had hoped that Maki had forgotten about it but she was wrong. "I..." She gulped, "I just didn't want you to always be there for me. I just wanted to not be a burden to you so I thought I can handle it by myself."

Sakura then looked away from her uncle. She knew that he was probably going to yell at her and scold her, although he never really did in her entire life. She just realized that her uncle never scolded her for anything and was only threatened by her mother that her uncle will be angry.

Those were her mother's words, not his uncle. She looked up at her uncle again and saw that he was looking at her.

"Sakura, if you really want to protect yourself without me, you could be like me."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

Maki smirked, "Well, you can be like a ninja like me you know? Then perhaps, you can protect yourself and your loved ones. Or even the ones that need help like what Naruto did earlier. He helped you when he did not know you yet."

Sakura looked at her uncle, trying to find if he was joking. Her mother had always told her to not follow her father's and uncle's footsteps as being a ninja will be too dangerous. But her uncle here said that she can protect herself, which was what she wanted.

"I'll think about it." Sakura muttered but Maki heard it. He smiled as they approached their house.

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He sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. He was bored out of his mind as he has to spend a night here in the hospital. He's not seriously wounded but the doctors insisted that they have to make sure and check up on him. And to make things worse, the guy with the mask has left the hospital.

He never even got to learn his name. He just said that he was doing his duty and he was concentrating more on his book rather than him. He sighed, placing two of his hands on the back of his head to rest. He started thinking about the pink haired girl at the park earlier.

'Sakura. I hope she will still be friends with me after what happened today.' Naruto thought. She was his second friend other than Maki. Now he realized that the two have pink hair. 'Are they related?'

His thoughts were filled mostly about Sakura. He just couldn't help thinking about her green emerald eyes. They were magical to him and he wanted to know her more, to be closer to her.

There was a knock on his door and a nurse opened the door carrying a tray. Naruto looked at the time and knew it was dinner time. He wished hospitals would provide Ramen but all they give are food that they considered healthy like boiled vegetables or porridge. He sat up on his bed as the nurse placed the tray on a table. She left without a word.

Naruto started to eat, or tried to eat. If he wasn't hungry, he would not eat but his stomach was growling for food. He had to hold his breath as he shoved the food into his mouth.

"You really need to learn to eat healthy food, and this just might help to learn, you know?" A voice said from the window.

Naruto knew that voice and turned to face him. Naruto smiled, "What brings you here?"

Maki shrugged, "You did say that you would like me to visit you as a friend and since earlier today you were attacked, I thought you would need a friend."

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me from the mob."

Maki entered the room and sat next to Naruto's bedside, "I didn't stop them. It was Kakashi, the masked guy. I came with him but he used the earth technique to scare the villagers."

"He wasn't very friendly." Naruto pointed out.

"That's not true. If you get to know him and earn his respect, you will find that he is a good guy. He saved you because he was doing his duty as a ninja, helping the helpless."

Naruto nodded slowly, taking another spoonful of broccoli, "I guess."

The two remained silent for a while. Naruto just continued eating while Maki looked out the window. He should be at home resting but he had to come to give Naruto the news, that he has got permission by the Hokage.

"By the way Maki," Naruto said, "That Sakura girl. Is she in anyway related to you?"

Maki did not react to the question. He just continued looking out the window and thought on how to answer him. If he said that she is, he might be slightly afraid to befriend her as he knows that someone is watching her so he thought of the best answer.

"No," He answered, "What would make you think that?"

"She has the same colour as your hair."

"Indeed she has. Anyway Naruto, I came here to tell you something that might make you happy."

That put Naruto to his full attention, "What?"

"In a year from now," He explained, facing Naruto, "You will enter the academy to learn how to be a ninja. You will be learning for free as the Hokage will be paying for your studies there so you don't have to worry using your allowance for it. Also, when you are at the age of ten, I will personally train you and teach you some techniques."

Naruto had to absorb the whole thing. He had always wanted to become a ninja ever since his first visit with the Hokage. Now he has that chance. And here is a friend, a ninja who must be quite strong, will teach him personally. He has heard that ninja's taught personally will be stronger as that ninja will get it's full attention from his sensei.

"Thank you!" Naruto replied enthusiastically, grabbing Maki in a hug. Maki smiled and patted Naruto's back. He has heard from the Hokage that it was his dream to become Hokage. Perhaps now he has the chance to show the village what he is capable of.

"Alright," Maki said after a couple of seconds, pulling Naruto off the hug, "I and Kakashi will always be watching over you. I will train in you in five years time so you had better pay attention in class. You want to be Hokage, don't you?"

Naruto nodded. Maki smiled and ruffled his messy blonde hair. He then walked over to the window, looked at Naruto one last time and jumped out of the window and started to make his way home.

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It was already nine at night when Maki reached his house. He still had two more days before he is allowed to do missions again. For now, he has to do at the most B-rank missions as to not endanger his life. He is the only that is bringing in income for the family so if he dies, the family will suffer and they have already suffered after his brother's death.

He walked into the house and found Suyuki and Sakura watching TV. Well, at least the argument earlier has finished.

Flashback

After the attack on Naruto, Maki and Sakura reached their house and when he walked in, he found Suyuki in the kitchen preparing lunch. Sakura entered the kitchen to help her mum in anyway she can. After all, her mother insisted she learn how to cook so that her 'future husband' can appreciate her.

Maki went to the back of their house to do his personal training. Their house had a larger compound than the rest and was able to fit the backyard as a training ground where Maki and his brother was able to use it to do small training, such as push-ups. They had to use the training grounds if they wanted to spar.

That was when she heard Suyuki shriek. He entered the kitchen, looking for any signs of trouble. He only found Suyuki looking at her daughter with wide eyes.

"What did you just say!?" Suyuki said but her voice was so loud that she was practically yelling.

"I said I want to become a ninja like dad and uncle Maki." Sakura answered while cutting some vegetables, not looking at her mother.

"I have already told you that being a ninja is dangerous! You should just be a normal girl, grow up and get married to a wonderful man. Not fighting for your life!"

"But mother," Sakura protested, "Today I was attacked by bullies and..."

"You were what?!?" Her mother shrieked, interrupting her daughter.

"You heard me mum but uncle Maki was there and Naruto. They helped me and uncle Maki told me that I can protect myself if I become a ninja. I don't want to depend on others anymore."

Suyuki now glared at her brother-in law who was still standing at the doorway of the kitchen, looking at the two. She walked towards him and poked his chest, hard, "How many times have I told you not to convince Sakura to become a ninja?"

Maki raised his two hands and backed away, "I didn't convince her. I was merely speaking the truth."

They continued arguing until Suyuki finally gave up and went back to cooking. There was no point anyway when two people are against you and you have no one to back you up. They were all silent throughout lunch and no one spoke until Maki left the house. He just said he had to visit someone.

End Flashback

At least mother and daughter were now in the same room watching the same thing and Suyuki looked as if she had calm down. Maki entered the room which didn't go unnoticed. Suyuki merely nodded to acknowledge him while Sakura was smiling brightly. Maki smiled back and then said, "It's time for bed, Sakura."

She, for the first time, did not protest. Maki was surprised. She must be in a very good mood to not fight this time. Maki grabbed her wrist and the two started walking towards Sakura's bedroom. When they entered her room, he carried her to her bed. As he placed the blanket up to her chest, he had to ask, "What brings you in such a good mood?"

She smiled widely again, "Mum finally agreed."

Maki was confused, "Agreed?"

She nodded, "Yeah. She said I can join the academy to be a ninja next year!"

Maki was shocked. 'Suyuki agreed?' He thought. That was quite unbelievable. He was really happy and he smiled, "I see. Well, that's good for you."

He bent down and kissed her forehead. He wished her goodnight and switched off the light. He was about to close the door when Sakura sat up, "Uncle Maki?"

"Yeah?" He replied, looking through the gap he left open.

"Will you train me to become a ninja?"

Maki looked at her niece. It was like he was looking at his own brother. He closed his eyes and thought of his brother and then opened them again, "Of course. When the time is right, I will."

Sakura thanked her uncle and then laid her head on her pillow. She cuddled one of her stuffed animals and closed her eyes. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, she thought of a certain blonde haired boy.

Maki was now also resting on his bed. When he was about to walk down the stairs after putting Sakura to sleep, he realized that it was dark downstairs. Suyuki has already switched off everything and must be already sleeping. He sighed and walked back into his room.

Now he started thinking on the two kids he will have to train in five years time. He will be able to tell what their talents are when they train. He can perhaps try to make those two fall in love by spending time together. Sakura has probably developed a small crush on Naruto already. He smiled at the thought. He closed his eyes and was now dreaming.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be a 5 year time skip where they will start their training and then after that, maybe graduation. Anywayx, hope you enjoyed and please REVIEW!!!! =)**


	4. Training

**Hei, here is the update. I REALLY appreciate you guys that review and favourited this story, story alert etc. But those that just story alert, please, leave a review, even if its a short one. But I wont be mad if you refuse, i would just appreciate it.**

**Anyways, hope you will enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still dont own naruto. DAMN!**

CHAPTER 4: TRAINING

A boy woke up at the sound of his alarm ringing. He groaned as he slammed the alarm clock hard, nearly breaking it. He sat up and yawned loudly and nearly passed out by his own bad breath. He had to stretch his body for an entire minute to get him awake and then he made his way to the bathroom to freshen up.

Brushing his teeth and taking a shower, it took him about seven to eight minutes. Once he was done, he walked into the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets and grabbed a cup of instant Ramen, chicken flavour. He cut up all the spices and poured it into the cup and then waited for the water to boil.

'Man, I hate waiting to boil the water. Hurry up!' Naruto thought.

After waiting for three minutes, he poured the hot boiling water into the plastic cup and without even waiting for the noodles to soften, started to dig in. Despite the heat, he was able to eat at record speed and in just two or three minutes, he has already consumed his breakfast and drank down the broth.

He looked at the clock which reads seven forty-five. "Shit, I'm going to be late!" Naruto said to himself, kicking himself off his chair. He opened and slammed the door behind him and locked it quickly. He ran off with insane speed.

Naruto ignored the glares that were given to him by the villagers. He fixed his goggles on his forehead as they were slipping down. It took him about five minutes when he finally sighted the academy. He then stopped running and then started walking, gathering back his breath. He still has about ten more minutes before class starts, so he decided to wait for Sakura for a while. He took a seat on a bench outside the school, humming a tune.

Sakura and Naruto has become very close to each other throughout the years. They have become best friends and some has rarely seen them not together when in school. The only time they are seperated is when school is over. They eat together during lunch, they play together and even sit next to each other in class.

Of course, the villagers have tried countless times to seperate Sakura from Naruto as they did not want the demon child to be with anyone, especially a girl. However, Sakura is persistent and also her uncle, Maki the replicator watches over them almost everytime. Even Kakashi the copy ninja watches over them so the villagers cannot do anything.

Naruto waved at a few friends as they passed by. The only person that Naruto has not befriended is the survivor of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Sasuke. It's not that Naruto never tried. Its just that he seems to be uninterested to have friends. The only thing that Sasuke seems interested in Naruto is his ability to be the only student in class to be equal in him when they have to spar against one another.

"Hei, Naruto!" A voice said and Naruto looked at the source of the voice.

He turned and saw Sakura waving at him with Ino next to her. Naruto smiled and waited for the pink haired girl to reach him. His heart beat increased as he watched her walk towards him as he seems lost in watching her laugh as she talks with her blonde friend.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted Sakura when she finally reached him.

"Good morning to you, too. Have you waited long for me, Naruto-kun?" She replied back as Naruto raised himself from his seat.

"Not really, just a few minutes actually." He answered and the three of them walked into the academy.

Although neither has admitted to each other, Sakura and Naruto actually likes each other but are too shy to admit to one another. There have been occasional hints given but they either just take it as a friendly gesture or ignore it.

As they walked in the academy's hallway, Sakura turned to look at her spiky blonde haired friend. She just couldn't get enough of those ocean blue eyes and the whisker marks on his cheek makes him look cute. He actually looks better now ever since Sakura suggested he change his orange jumpsuit attire. He now wears a black shirt and dark blue pants. Also, he was given a white cloak by the Hokage, saying that it was his property. Naruto now looks almost exactly like the fourth Hokage now with that white cloak.

Naruto turned to face Sakura, looking directly into her green emerald eyes, "So, Sakura-chan. Are you ready for the test Iruka-sensei said he will give us today?"

Sakura nodded, "I have already studied them last night. The five chapters that Iruka-sensei told us to study are quite easy to remember."

"Five chapters?" Naruto said in disbelief, "I thought he said four chapters?"

Sakura sighed. Naruto could actually be one of the top students in class if he paid more attention. He has the brain but he just doesn't use it, "Yeah five chapters."

Naruto scratched his head, turning the corner, "What is the fifth chapter? I remember he said studying the chakra system, the great ninja war, Konoha history and types of ninjutsu."

"The last chapter to study is the history of Konoha's Hokage's."

Naruto sighed in relief, "That's fortunate. I know each and every detail of every Hokage. Especially the fourth Hokage."

The three of them reached the door of the classroom. They opened it and find that most of the students were already sited on their respective seats. As usual, Naruto and Sakura sat next to each other while Ino went arguing with the rest of the other fan-girls in an attempt to sit next to Sasuke.

Naruto frankly, is surprised that Sakura is one of the girls, other than Hinata to not show any affections towards the Uchiha survivor. Of course, the reason for that is because Sakura already likes Naruto so that isn't a problem.

At that moment, the door of the classroom opened and Iruka entered the room, carrying a stack of papers. Iruka walked to his desk and placed the stack of papers on his desk and placed his hands on his hips.

"Alright class," Iruksa said, his voice filled with authority, "I hope you have studied for your test. Once I have distributed the test papers to all of you, you can start your test. And no cheating!"

Iruka then started distributing the papers he brought in earlier. Naruto leaned close to Sakura's ear and whispered, "Good luck! Although you won't really need it."

Naruto then leaned back to his original position. Sakura giggled and slightly blushed but she was able to hide it thanks to her long pink hair. She received her paper, took out her pencil and started writing her answers.

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Three ninja's walked into the Konoha gates after finishing a three day A-rank mission. They had to deal with a couple of bandits that has been attacking a nearby village. The bandits were easily disposed of but the reason why it was rated an A-rank was because there were several bandit camps so they had to eliminate each and every camp.

They three Jounin's started to make their way to the Hokage tower to deliver their report. There was no doubt that they would complete their mission anyway. Two of the three Jounin's were the top ninja of Konoha and were given nicknames for their respective talents. The third jounin is Genma, although he is not as good as the three does not mean that he can be underestimated.

Maki fixed his long dark pink hair as it was starting to irritate his eyes. He sometimes wanted to just cut its length but decided against it. They took out the bandits with ease that Maki thought that it should actually be rated a B-rank mission rather than an A-rank.

Kakashi was reading his perverted orange book as usual. Maki wondered how he can still keep his eye on the road without colliding with anybody or object. As they finally approached the Hokage tower, the three Jounin's stared at each other, wondering who should do the honours to report their mission to the Hokage.

"I have to read my book." Kakashi simply stated, walking away.

Maki turned to look at the brown haired Jounin next to him, "I have to take the pay for my family. I hope you understand." He explained.

Genma gave an understanding smile, "Well, at least your reason is the truth, unlike Kakashi-san."

Maki smirked and he started to make his way to the hall where ninja's go to receive missions. That is also where they get the pay. 'Well, at least I get extra pay than usual. An A-rank mission. I should be able to support the family for five days at least.' He thought happily.

After he collected his share of completing the mission, he decided to make his way home. He has to give a certain amount of money to Suyuki for her to do the family's grocery shopping. As he made his way towards his house, he passed by the abandoned Uchiha compound.

'It's been what, two years since the Uchiha massacre?' He thought. Yes, two years has passed since one of the most powerful clan in Konoha was destroyed. And it was destroyed by one man: Uchiha Itachi. The man who unlocked his clan's weapon at the age of eight and became an ANBU captain at the age of thirteen. He was indeed at Uchiha prodigy.

Maki himself was also selected to become the Hokage's personal ANBU but he refused, stating that he wanted to serve Konoha rather than just staying around Konoha to watch the Hokage. He respected the Hokage but he loved his home.

When he reached his house, he opened his front door. He found his sister-in law sitting on a chair in the living room. Maki grinned when Suyuki turned to face him. She was actually expecting him to return today. They have really grown close throughout the years. He thought their relationship would worsen after Sakura entered the academy but Suyuki finally thought that it was best she became a ninja and forgave Maki. Although in his opinion, she didn't have to ask for forgiveness.

"So, how was the mission?" She asked him, walking towards him and putting her handbag on her shoulder.

"Oh, it was quite a waste of time. It was easy but the good side of it that it brought in extra money for us. So..." He started to take out a certain amount of cash he just received.

When he got the amount he wanted to give to her, he handed it to her. She took it and put the money in her purse. She kissed Maki on the cheek and walked out of the door, leaving the replicator alone in the house. Maki stretched himself and made his way to the kitchen for a quick snack.

He opened the fridge and found some cheese, butter and a quarter of chocolate kick. He opened a couple of cabinets and finally found what he was looking for in the third cabinet. He grabbed a piece of cheese and then took two slices of bread. He placed the cheese on one of the bread and covered the cheese with the second bread. After he finished making his quick sandwich, he placed everything back to its respective places.

Taking his sandwich, he walked to the second floor and walked to the balcony. He ate his sandwich while watching children with each other below. Watching the children playing with each other brought back memories of his childhood and his long time crush.

Flashback

A couple of children were playing in the busy streets of Konoha. It was the reign of the third Hokage known as the professor. There were two pink haired boys running from three other boys and about four girls. They were all playing tag and since that the two pink haired boys were the best in running, the group decided that they all have to try and catch the two of them.

Maki was laughing while running, "Hei, ni-san, can't you keep up?" Maki said to his older brother.

Hanaki, the older brother of Maki scoffed as he avoided a boy who tried to grab him, "I'm just getting warm up!"

The two continued running, jumping over dustbins and avoiding the citizens of Konoha as they ran by. When the two of them finally lost sight of their pursuers, the brothers ran into an alley to rest and catch their breath.

"Man," Hanaki said, leaning on a wall, "Those guys are really catching up. They seem to know how we work."

"Yeah," Maki agreed, "But we still lost them."

As if on cue, the two brothers were suddenly pushed on the ground as felt something heavy on them. Maki groaned in pain and looked up to find a girl with brown eyes. She has brown hair and had her tied in a pony tail. Despite being eight years old, Maki has a huge crush on her and his affections were pretty obvious.

He had constantly asked her on dates although she refused, saying that they were too young or she was too busy. Of course, Maki knew the truth. She was interested in another student in the academy. That guy was much more good looking and he was from the Nara clan. He is a freaking genius and Maki, despite studying and working hard could not keep up with him.

"Damn it, Himura!" Maki muttered, "You nearly scared me to death."

Himura giggled and got off of Maki, pulling him up, "Sorry. I guess we finally got you two!"

Hanaki chuckled as he dusted the dirt off his body, "I guess you guys finally caught us. So now we can play like normal, no more the two of us running from you guys."

"Yeah!" The group of pursuers cheered.

Maki however was looking at Himura the whole time. He always admired her. Even though her brown eyes are not green or blue, to him, it is the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen. If she unties her brown hair, he was even more mesmerized. He sighed as he knew that he can never have her. But that doesn't mean he can' try to win her affections.

The group of children then restarted the round, playing tag again and these time, Maki and Hanaki were the pursuers.

End of Flashback

Maki did not even realize he had finished eating his sandwich. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even know he finished his snack. 'Himura. Why did you have to leave Konoha?' Maki thought sadly.

She knew she migrated to the Sand village with her family. The main reason she left was that her long time crush, the Nara kid, had died in combat and she was depressed for weeks. Her family could not bear to take care of her like that and decided to move away. They claimed that Konoha has too many painful memories of her daughter's love so they moved.

Himura never even said goodbye to him. Maki and Himura were good friends, despite being in a different team. Himura was teamed up with that Nara kid and he knew that the two were dating but Maki never gave up. He still asked her on dates but not as much as he did. He was just happy that she was happy with her crush.

Still, at the age of sixteen, she left the village. Maki never saw her again but he still kept a special place of her in his heart. He had and will always love her. If he couldn't get her, no other will have him. He is, despite having a weird hair colour, good looking for his age.

That is one of the reason why he actually liked Ayame. He reminded her of Himura but he knew that she cannot replace her. That is the only reason why he has not asked Ayame on a date, despite her constant flirting.

Maki walked back into his house and walked into his room. He pushed away the thoughts of Himura and decided to rest. After all, he has to meet Naruto and Sakura today after they finish school. They were now ten years old and therefore, has to start the day that he had promised Naruto. And Sakura.

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Naruto and Sakura were glad when their last class finally ended. It was the end of the day and they can now go home. The two of them as usual walked next to each other, talking.

"So, how the test Iruka-sensei gave us earlier?" Sakura asked her blonde haired crush.

Naruto shrugged, stifling a yawn, "It was pretty easy for me. I think I can actually beat you this time."

Sakura scoffed, "Yeah right! That is like the fiftieth time you told me this!"

Naruto rubbed his hair and just laughed. Sakura watched as he laugh and couldn't help a small blush.

'He looks so cute.' Sakura thought inside her head.

'**Yeah! Just look at him. Now, go and give him a full kiss on the lips!' Her inner said.**

'Yeah, and... wait, WHAT??' Sakura was shocked. Her inner actually said that?

'**Oh come on. You know you want to?' **Her inner said, giving Sakura images of Naruto and her kissing.

'Shut up! We are too young and...'

'**Oh, so you DO want to kiss him?' Her inner interrupted Sakura.**

'Will you just shut up? Besides, I don't even know if he likes me.' Sakura told her inner.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked, worried. He was waving his hand in front of her face.

Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts. She cursed softly at her inner, "Yeah," Sakura replied, smiling, "I just spaced out for a while."

"Oh, okay. Well, you want to come and eat Ramen with me?" He asked as the two of them walked out of the school.

Sakura started to sweat. Even though Naruto asked it to eat as friends, she thought of it as a date. "Ye-yeah.. I... I mean... o-of course." She stuttered.

"Sakura-chan, are you really okay? You're stuttering!" He was now concerned. Sakura rarely stuttered. The only girl he knew that stuttered was Hinata.

Before she could answer, a man suddenly appeared in front of them. The two looked up at him and they instantly recognized him. Who could not recognize a person who has dark pink hair like his crush?

"So," Maki started, looking at the two kids, "How was school today?"

"Good!" The two answered in unison.

Maki nodded, "Okay, that's good. Anyway, I came here for a reason today."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "You rarely come to meet us at school. I was about to eat some Ramen with Sakura-chan."

Sakura blushed at the thought. She was so waiting to eat with him but her uncle had to interrupt. She had to be careful when talking to her uncle when Naruto was present as Maki told her that he did not want Naruto to know that he was Sakura's uncle. She never knew why but just agreed.

"So what is your purpose, Maki-san?" Sakura said, feeling weird calling her uncle by name although her uncle didn't mind.

"Naruto," Maki said sternly, "You remember the conversation I had with you five years ago? The one I said that I will start training you when you reach the age I specified?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, when I am..." Naruto now knew what Maki was trying to say. His eyes went big as the realization struck him.

"It's today, isn't it?" Naruto asked Maki, excited that he gets to be trained by Maki. He has, over the five years of his time at the academy heard teachers talking about Maki when he showed up. He heard that he is one of the top Jounin's of Konoha and had a nickname, though he never heard of it yet.

"Naruto-kun, what's he talking about?" Sakura asked the boy next to him.

Naruto look at Sakura with excitement, "Maki promised me that he will start to train me PERSONALLY when I reach ten years old. He's going to train me today! I'm sure of it! Unless I am not ten years old."

"Yes, I will train you today." Maki answered plainly.

Sakura just absorbed the information and tried not to show her sadness. Her uncle had always promised that he would train her and now he was actually putting her crush first before her. Unfortunately for her, Maki noticed this and smiled.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I will also be training you." Maki said.

Sakura looked up at her uncle and he was smiling brightly at her. She smiled back. She should have trusted her uncle instead of having doubts. After all, her uncle always said that he loved her. What reason is there to doubt him?

"Alright then, meet me at training ground number two. I will meet you there and if the two of you can complete my exercise at the time I expect, I will treat the two of you for some Ramen!"

Naruto actually jumped and cheered, saying that he will do that for the sake of Ramen. Sakura looked at him and shook her head. She wonders sometimes what was it that makes her so attracted to him.

Maki disappeared in a puff of smoke and he was gone. Naruto took that as a 'start' to get to the training ground. Grabbing Sakura by the wrist, the two of them started running towards the training ground.

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Naruto and Sakura reached the training ground in just three minutes but running the whole way really took away their energy. Naruto placed two of his hands on his knees and gasping for air while Sakura just sat down, breathing heavily. A shadow blocked the sun for them and they looked at the figure that was blocking the sun.

"Well, that was fast." Maki commented. Naruto just gave his foxy grin as a response.

Maki then gave them a gesture to follow him which they obeyed. He allowed the two kids to sit beneath a tree to protect them from the heat of the sun while Maki is standing a few feet in front of them. He had his hands on his hips. After they finally were relaxed enough and got back their breath, Maki started.

"Alright, today I will not be training you yet. I will ask the two of you to do a sort of training exercise that will allow me to determine what class you two belong."

"Class? What do you mean? We never learnt any of that in the academy." Sakura asked curiously.

"Sorry," Maki apologized, "But these 'class' are my own personal creation. You won't learn in from the academy. I find it easier to analyze my enemies or allies by classifying them in to my 'class.'" Maki explained.

Naruto and Sakura now understood and Maki continued, "As I was saying, I said that you will be doing an exercise that will allow me to know what class you two belong. So let's get ready!"

"What's the class?" Naruo asked their new sensei.

"The two of you will be climbing a tree without using your hands." Maki explained the two young children.

"Climb a tree? Without hands?" Naruto asked in disbelief. That is impossible!

Maki sighed. He knew that the two wouldn't believe him. Well, he can't really blame them since he too, did not believe it when their sensei explained it to them. He gathered chakra to his feet until he got the desired amount and started to make his way to the tree that Naruto and Sakura are sitting under.

Just like he said, he is now climbing the tree without using his feet. He is climbing the tree like as if he is walking on the ground. Naruto had his mouth open and flies could actually fly in while Sakura watched in awe. She is not as surprised as Naruto as she once saw her uncle climbing a wall. At least now she can find out how he does it.

Maki climbed the tree until he reached a tree branch. He then sat on the tree branch and looked at the two kids, "Now, here is what you must do. You have to gather chakra to your feet to a specific amount. If you put too much chakra, you will be like jumping off the tree and if you put too little chakra, you will from the tree. Any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand. Maki nodded to signify to allow her to ask her question.

"So, just how does this help you determine our class?"

Maki simply grinned, "Just do as I ask and I will know."

The two academy students shrugged and started to gather chakra to their feet. Naruto let out a breath to try and calm himself and he ran towards the tree. He ran up the tree and he reached about half way to the branch where Maki sat when he accidentally put too much chakra. Just like Maki said, Naruto burst off the tree and landed on the ground.

Naruto scratched his head as he looked back at the tree. 'It's tougher than I thought.' Naruto thought to himself.

Sakura is next to run up the tree. To everyone's surprise, she is able to run up the tree easily and even ran higher where Maki sat. She reached the highest branch and sat there. She cheered on her success while Naruto is fuming.

'So, Sakura has better chakra control than Naruto. Interesting. Naruto was okay but he still needs to train more. Okay, now for my next exercise to determine their class.' Maki thought.

"Alright!" Maki said suddenly, catching the two students by surprise, "Now I want the two of you to continue doing this exercise. Even you Sakura, even though you are able to run to the top. I want you to repeat this exercise until you think you cannot go on." Maki explained.

So, Maki sat on that tree branch, watching the two young academy students running up and down repeatedly. Naruto is slowly improving while Sakura is running up with ease. After about twenty minutes, Sakura could not go further. Maki already knew where she belonged while Naruto continued on for another half an hour before he stopped.

Maki now stood in front of them with his arms crossed on his chest while the two academy students gathered back their energy. He is actually quite impressed at the two of them. They had completed his exercise quite fast.

"I have determined your class." Maki started.

Naruto and Sakura looked at Maki, waiting for him to continue.

"Naruto, I can see that your chakra control is average and you have high amount of chakra, given that you are still young. With your high amount of chakra, I can already tell what kind of techniques would be good for you. Your class is the offence and support."

Naruto nodded after Maki informed him his class. Maki then turned to his niece.

"Sakura, you have the best chakra control I have ever seen. I have never seen a ninja with such perfect control and at your age especially! However, you have a low amount of chakra and we will have to work on that. Your class is either being a medic or being a genjutsu specialist."

Sakura also nodded.

"Now," Maki said, "Naruto. With your high amount of chakra, I will teach you your first technique tomorrow. And this technique is also one of my favourites. It is how I got my nickname."

Maki formed a seal that is shaped like a 't.'

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke and then, an exact clone of Maki appeared next to him. Sakura and Naruto at first thought the technique is a simple clone but they realized that the clone is solid.

"Naruto, this technique does not need much chakra control, just high amount of chakra. You can increase the amounts of clone depending on how much chakra you put in. I, too have a high amount of chakra. Frankly speaking, I have the highest amount of chakra in the whole of Konoha. Of course, the Hokage USED to have more but now I surpass him."

Naruto nodded slowly. He is in awe. He can't believe he will be learning a technique that is Maki's favourite technique. He can't wait for tomorrow. He's probably going to have some trouble sleeping tonight. Maki watched as Naruto sat there trembling in excitement.

"Sakura, your chakra control allows you to actually be a specialist in genjutsu. Even though genjutsu is just supposed to attack the mind and put the enemy in a state on unconsciousness, your chakra control can actually allow you to probably drive the mind until he loses his sanity. It can even maybe kill. Or, you can be a medic. I would suggest this as Konoha lacks medics. You need excellent chakra control to be a medic but for now, I will teach you what I know of genjutsu. I can give you scrolls on how to learn some basics in healing but I have no knowledge of anything on that."

"But Maki-san," Sakura protested, "Couldn't you get one of the legendary sannin? I heard one of them is a legend in healing."

Maki smiled. Sakura actually knows one of the legendary sannin is actually impressive. He looked at Naruto who showed confusion. Not many people know about them as they have never actually seen them. Some thinks of it as a bluff but Maki knows the truth.

"It is true that Tsunade-sama is the best medic known in the ninja world but unfortunately, I have no idea where she is. All three of the legendary sannin has left Konoha."

Sakura sighed in frustration. It seems that Sakura is more interested in being a medic. That is actually good if she can succeed. Konoha can probably train another legendary healer with Sakura's abilities. He has hoped that she will one day ascent to greatness with her hopefully one day husband, Naruto.

Maki himself has been trying to help them to reveal their feelings for each other but it is easier said than done. Pushing away those thoughts, he clapped his hands to get the two children's attention.

"Alright, training for today is over. Now, how about that Ramen?" Maki asked and the two kids cheered, running for the exit and to get to Ichiraku as soon as possible. Maki followed the two from behind.

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In a distant land, a lone woman stood looking out of her window at the city. This is her home now. Her home of ten years. Despite possessing such beauty, she is still single as her heart belongs to another but that person is dead. She sighed heavily. She missed her homeland but it brings in too much pain of him.

There is a knock on the door and the door opened. A man, with a cloth covering his left eye entered the room. He had a rough voice and is one of the top Jounin of the sand.

"Himura-san, we have to depart for our mission." The man said with a commanding voice.

"Understood, Baki-san."

Himura heard the door close and sighed heavily. She gathered her weapons and got ready to leave her mission but she still had trouble pushing off her thoughts of Konoha. She regretted leaving in a hurry with her family. She never got to say goodbye to her best friend. She knew that he liked her but she never returned it as her heart belongs to him.

She sometimes wondered if she should have given him a chance. He wasn't that bad looking and he is actually beat her crush in the Chuunin exam even when her crush had more support. His talents for the shadow clone were what helped him win. She knew that he is now a powerful ninja and had no doubt that he is the ninja known as 'The Replicator.'

She walked out of the room and muttered softly, "I'm sorry, Maki-kun."

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It was night time in Konoha and Naruto prepared for sleep. He knew that Kakashi is currently watching him to protect him from the villagers. Despite hating Kakashi, he is grateful that the villagers no longer attack him. After brushing his teeth, he walked into his room and started to prepare for bed.

He closed his bedroom door and looked out the window. He saw Kakashi on a roof. Kakashi nodded and created a shadow clone. He then left, leaving the clone to watch over him. Naruto pulled the blanket up to his chest and closed his eyes, dreaming of a certain pink haired girl with green emerald eyes.

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Maki kissed Sakura on the forehead as she shifted in her sleep. Sakura thanked Maki when they reached home for training her. Maki really loved Sakura. She always thought of her loved ones no matter who they are.

He left Sakura's room and walked into his own room. He's tired after that training with the kids, watching them running up a tree. He has to teach them their techniques tomorrow. He opened a drawer and took out a scroll. The scroll will teach Sakura some basic healing abilities and he can teach Sakura a certain genjutsu. The genjutsu is a B-rank and he has no doubt that Sakura will master it in no time.

The shadow clone technique will be easy for Naruto with his high amount of chakra. He can probably create at least maybe even fifty. And he's just ten years old! He chuckled. He can't believe he has such high amount of chakra.

He dropped on his bed with his face in the pillow. He turned to face the window and looked out the window. It is a full moon tonight. He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking of a certain brown haired girl that has his heart.

"Himura-chan..." Maki murmured before he fell asleep, clutching his heart.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please Review this chapter. Next chapter will be time skip upto their graduation so yeah. **


	5. Graduating from the academy

**Hei, here is the update. After this chapter, I will rest for a day so dont expect an update tomorrow. Hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review on your opinion of this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Why cant i own Naruto?**

CHAPTER 5: GRADUATING FROM THE ACADEMY

Two years have passed since Maki has started training the container of the nine tailed beast and his niece. The two ninja's have improved greatly and Naruto can now create a large amount of shadow clones. Also, Sakura has also improved in both genjutsu and the arts of basic healing. She can now heal small wounds such as scratches but she could not heal large wounds.

Her genjutsu is at a very high level that it can really damage the mind. Maki was once able to dispel Sakura's genjutsu but proved difficult. She definitely has the talents for being a genjutsu specialist.

As for Naruto, his chakra control is still average but he has improved a little, at least. His chakra is still at large and it is all thanks to the kyuubi. Actually, he is now the second largest amount of chakra, almost close to Maki. His shadow clones, however, are not used to its full potential.

Maki was already awake when the sun shined in the great city of Konoha. He knew today that his niece has the exam to become a Genin. The exam should be easy since they will ask her to perform one of the three techniques that are basic. The Bunshin no jutsu, the Kawarimi no jutsu or the Henge no jutsu.

He changed his clothes and wore his ninja attire with his Jounin vest covering his shirt. He took his pouch and filled it with five of his custom kunai while the rest he left it in his drawer. He would normally take about ten to fifteen when he has missions but when he doesn't, he takes five, just in case a fight occurs. You never know when you have to fight and he relies on his custom kunai to fight to his full potential. After all, that is how he gained his nickname.

After he changed his outfit, he walked into the bathroom to do his business. After that, he brushed his teeth and washed his face to freshen himself and also to fix his hair. He looked at the mirror and stared at himself as the water flows down his face. He winked at himself, 'Still looking good.' He thought to himself.

As he walked out of the bathroom, he could hear his sister-in law's alarm clock ringing. So it means it is now seven in the morning. Sakura still has about an hour to get to the academy before the exam starts. Perfect. He walked downstairs to fix his breakfast. He grabbed a cupcake he found in his fridge and started eating it. He heard the door of Suyuki open heard her footsteps approaching Sakura's room.

He decided to do some morning exercise to get himself ready for the day. He walked out of the kitchen and made his way to the backyard, doing a certain amount of push-ups and sit-ups. It took him ten minutes to complete his task and then made his way back to the kitchen. He found Sakura pouring milk into a bowl filled with her favourite cereal. She still have not realised that Maki entered the kitchen.

He walked behind her and took a seat next to her, "Good morning, angel." He greeted her.

Sakura's head shot up in surprise, "Oh, good morning uncle Maki. I did not hear you."

"Well, you have to be alert then Sakura. A ninja always has to be prepared you know?"

Sakura smiled as she placed the jar of milk back into the fridge, "Sorry, uncle. I'm just nervous of the exam today."

He smiled, "Don't worry Sakura. You'll do fine, I know you will make me proud. You wouldn't want to lose to Naruto, do you?"

She laughed as she took her first spoon of the cereal, "Yeah, I guess not."

They stayed in silence after that as Maki looked outside of the kitchen window, watching Suyuki hang their clothes out to dry. Sakura ate silently and it took her about five minutes to finish eating. Maki looked at the clock on the wall and it reads that it is a quarter past seven.

"You still have another forty five minutes to get ready Sakura, and knowing you, I think you will need that amount of time to be on time to school." Maki said jokingly.

Sakura is already on her way up but stopped when she heard that remark, "Uncle Maki! That's mean of you!" She scolded him.

The kitchen can be heard of Maki's laughter. He laughed so hard that he felt a tear sliding down his cheek. He wiped the tear away and took the bowl that Sakura used earlier and washed it for her. After that, he sat on a chair in the dining room, bored out of his mind.

He has no mission today. Well, he just completed an A-rank mission yesterday. He had to find and eliminate an assassin that has killed the leader of a village. The village lies close to the Sand's border so he was quite surprise when he was the one that had to complete the mission rather than the sand.

'The sand village is getting lazy. I can't believe we, their ally, are the one that has to do their jobs.' Maki thought.

He heard Suyuki opening the door from the backyard. She has just finished hanging all their wet clothes so it is time for her next task. Maki knew what it is and took out his wallet. He heard Suyuki approaching him and he gave her the money.

"So what are you going to buy today, if I may ask?" Maki said, putting his wallet back into his pocket.

"I guess I could try and find some salmon for tonight. It is Sakura's favourite and we can use the salmon as a means of celebration."

"Yeah. She will definitely pass the exam with flying colours so she deserves it. Her chakra control is excellent and the exam..."

"I don't know what you're saying but I trust you." She interrupted Maki, starting to make her way for the door, "I never understand all this ninja stuff anyway."

"Bye!" Maki yelled as Suyuki closed the door. Maki looked at the clock and is says seven thirty five in the morning. He sighed heavily. He just don't know how Sakura can spend so much time just getting ready. She is probably trying to dress to impress Naruto. Well, that's cute. He chuckled softly.

"What's so funny?" A female voice said and he turned to find Sakura wearing a red dress with a black tight pants. Her long pink hair is tied into a ponytail and he has to admit, his niece indeed looked beautiful. 'Naruto is probably going to have a nosebleed.' Maki thought evilly.

"Nothing. I was just thinking of something funny that happened in a mission." Maki lied.

"Oh, well, I'm going to be leaving now. I have to get to the academy for the exams." She stated, opening the front door.

"Alright. Good luck in your exams Sakura." Maki said. She turned to face her uncle and gave a heart warming smile.

"Thanks, uncle Maki!" She closed the door behind her and he heard her walking away. Maki raised himself from his seat and also walked out of his house. He locked the front door with his keys and after that, started walking on the busy road of Konoha.

'What should I do today?' He thought. Most of his friends are away on missions, Naruto is also going to have his exam today. He's going to be bored today. He looked up and watched the clouds being blown by the wind. So peaceful. The weather is not so hot and the cooling wind makes it an even more perfect day.

Maki then decided to train today. Practice and try come up with some new techniques. He is a fire element and all of his fire techniques can actually be compared to an experienced Uchiha. He has also developed an A-rank fire technique that can be used to kill a man with one hit.

It consumes a large amount of chakra and is also a dangerous skill. He is the creator of that technique and has not taught that technique to anyone. The Rasengan, is the second A-rank technique while his one is number four, beating Kakashi's lightning blade which is number six. He created that technique about five years ago and ever since then, he only used it three times and that was because he could not beat his enemy. None has survived.

Maki made his way to the training ground, hoping to find someone there to train with.

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Sakura is smiling brightly as she approached the academy. She can't wait to pass the exam and then finally become a ninja like her uncle. She can finally protect herself without Naruto or her uncle is there to always protect her. She and Naruto have been training with each other ever since he promised to train them two years ago.

She has mastered the different type of genjutsu's that her uncle gave her to learn. She can now use them with ease and once tried it on an unsuspecting villager for insulting Naruto. The man ran around Konoha screaming and had to be put down by ANBU and it took them a few seconds to realize that the man in under a genjutsu.

She has also improved in her healing abilities. She just wished that the legendary sannin, Tsunade is in Konoha. Still, even if she is here, will Tsunade accept her to be an apprentice?

She saw her blonde haired friend, her crush, leaning on the wall of the academy. He is most likely waiting for her. At least, that is what she thinks. After all, he only enters the academy with Sakura, never without her. Just thinking about that brought a smile on her face. She could feel butterflies in her stomach and she just wished that Naruto likes her.

Naruto saw his pink haired friend and walked towards her. He had his hands in his pockets to warm himself as today is unusually cold for him. He still wore the same outfit, a black shirt with blue pants but he no longer wears the white cloak. He claims that it is too troublesome and it makes him feel hot. Hot as in the heat.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her when he reached her.

She smiled, "Good morning, Naruto-kun. Come on, we should get ready for the exam."

Naruto nodded and they walked into the academy. They are told to wait in the classroom until their instructor tells them what to do. Sakura also noticed that Naruto seemed to be depressed and she decided to try and cheer him up.

"Come on Naruto-kun, why the long face? You aren't worried about the exam, are you?"

He gave her a soft smile and shook his head, "No, it's not that, Sakura-chan. I mean, once we pass the exam, we will be placed into three man teams and we might be separated."

Sakura gasped, "How do you know?"

"Maki told me that. He said that we will all be placed into teams with a Jounin sensei to guide us."

Sakura didn't want to believe him at first but if her uncle told him then it must be true. "I don't want to be separated from you. You're my best friend!" She told him.

Naruto felt a pang in his heart as she said he is her best friend. He wanted to be more than that but he is able to hide his pain.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. We can still be friends, right?"

They reached their classroom and opened the door. The whole class was filled with people talking, laughter and of course, fan-girls arguing on their topic, Sasuke. The two students made their way to their seats.

"Yeah, we will be friends. Forever." Sakura said softly.

Naruto gave her his foxy grin as he allowed Sakura to take her seat first. Her heart melted watching his grin.

'He looks so cuuute!!' Sakura thought as she took her seat.

'**Yeah, and just look at that ass! I bet...'** Her inner squealed.

'Will you stop with all that perverted thoughts?' Sakura scolded her inner.

'**I can't help it! Naruto is so perfect! He is nice to us, good looking, strong and.' **Her inner continued her ranting while Sakura closed her ears shut with her hands.

'I get it already! Can you go now? I have to concentrate on the exam here.' Sakura stated, shutting the connection with her inner self.

The noise level in the class continued to increase as the students all talked with each other at the same time. Of course, the one to cause the most sound is the constant arguments from the fan girls. Ino seems to be the loudest among them and succeeded in sitting next to the emotionless Uchiha. He ignored her and continued to brood.

"I just don't know what they see in him." Sakura said, looking at the Uchiha.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "I mean, he doesn't talk to anyone. All he does is sit there and broods. I don't know what is just so special about him."

"I Know. He is like the complete opposite of you." She whispered seductively in his ears.

Naruto shivered. He started to blush madly and sweating. He used one of his hand to move the collar, trying to release his tension. 'Damn it, why is Sakura doing this? I can't blow my cover if she seems me blush. If she knows I like her, she won't be my friend anymore.' Naruto thought worriedly.

Naruto is about to say something when the door opened and a man with purple hair and a Chuunin vest entered the room, reading a thin white sheet of paper. Mizuki was reading the class list and found the name he wanted; Uzumaki Naruto.

He plans to fail the kid. He is currently thinking how to do that when the kid is quite efficient in the three types of jutsu requested to make. He rubbed his chin until he noticed that all eyes were staring at him. He forgot he is in class.

"Alright class. When I call your name, you are to walk to the next class where I and Iruka will ask you to perform one of the three techniques required for you to pass. If you succeed, you will be receiving this," He said, gesturing on his headband, "And you will then be considered as a ninja of Konoha. Is that understood?"

"Hai!" The whole class answered at the same time.

"Alright, the first student is... Aburame Shino!" Mizuki said and he walked out of the class.

A boy with a grey shirt started to make his way out of the class. He is considered to be one of the quiet students in the class. He has spiky black hair and wears black sunglasses and his shirt's collar reaches up to his mouth, concealing most of his face.

The whole way, students walked out of the class and never returned. They must have passed the exams because after their names are called out and a minute later, you can hear them cheering in excitement. That is a sure way to tell that they passed.

Finally, Sakura also left Naruto's side as her name is called out. Naruto waved goodbye and she returned, saying she will wait for him outside the academy. Naruto could hear Sakura cheering. He smiled to himself as he knows that his crush passed the exam.

Now he just waited in anticipation for his name to be called out. He will be one of the last students since his surname started with a U. He had to wait for a full half an hour when his name is finally called out. He punched the air to release his excitement and ran out of the class.

He opened the door in the next class and saw Iruka and Mizuki sited behind a table. Naruto walked in front of them and waited for their orders. Iruka was busy reading sheets of paper while Mizuki glared at him, his eyes full of hate. Naruto ignored the glare and looked at the items on the table. They were Konoha headbands. He breath out to try and calm himself.

"Alright!" Mizuki said, giving a wicked smile, "Uzumaki Naruto, you are supposed to create three complete Bunshins for us. However..." Mizuki let the sentence hang there and Iruka stopped what he is doing, giving Mizuki a confused look.

Naruto also knew that Mizuki is up to something. He knew that Mizuki hated him just like the rest of the villagers. It seems that Mizuki will not want him to pass but Naruto is filled with determination.

"Since you have always said that you wanted to be the so-called Hokage, you will be taking a different test." Mizuki said, finishing his earlier sentence.

"Mizuki-sensei, what are you talking about?" Iruka asked, scratching his head, "I don't recall having a different test."

Mizuki gritted his teeth and turned to face the brown haired man, "Iruka-sensei, Naruto here has claimed that he will become Hokage and it is only fair that he has to prove to us that he will one day become Hokage. So..." He stopped for a while and turned back to Naruto, "I want Naruto to create three shadow replication."

Iruka dropped his jaw in shock. That is an A-level technique, surely Naruto, an academy student cannot put up with that. Hell, Iruka can barely do that technique and was about to protest when he realised that Naruto has a complete calm face.

Naruto smirked, "Three shadow replications? That's easy."

Naruto was glad that Maki taught him this technique. The moment he made his seal, Iruka and Mizuki said the same thing, "Impossible."

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Three puff's of smoke were created and then, three completed replications of Naruto were created. Mizuki could not believe his eyes. He did not even move an inch from shock while Iruka, shakily got up from his seat and touched one of the clones. It was solid!

"These... These are real!" Iruka said, impressed and shocked.

"They sure are, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto replied happily, "So, do I pass?"

Iruka had the biggest smile on his face. He removed his head band and tied it to Naruto's forehead, "Of course you pass. I don't know what Mizuki was thinking but you DEFINITELY pass after showing us that technique! Incredible!"

Naruto touched the forehead. The forehead that belonged to Iruka. His clones were dispelled and he bowed low, thanking Iruka and was about to exit the examination room when he heard a chair drop to the ground. He looked at the chair and realized that Mizuki is the cause of that from the result of getting off his chair in a hurry.

"That is impossible! How can a demon brat use that technique? It is an A-rank technique!"

Naruto shrugged, "I guess I could do it."

"I know how you could do it! The kyuubi inside of you must have helped you!" He spat.

Iruka was shock on what Mizuki said. He actually said of the kyuubi and to Naruto, the container of all people. It is highly forbidden but Mizuki seems not to care. He turned to look at the blonde child at the door and he knew that he heard it. 'Oh no!' Iruka thought.

"Inside of me?" Naruto said in a soft voice, "What are you talking about?"

"You, Uzumaki Naruto, holds the nine-tailed beast! You are the cause of the village pain twelve years ago! You..." Mizuki continued to rant until he fell down as he felt a sharp pain on his cheek.

Iruka has punched Mizuki, hard on the face. He was too late however. Naruto has heard the whole thing and Naruto, being a kid that is quite smart, finally fixed the puzzle together.

'So that is why the village hates me. I contain the cursed demon. I thought the fourth Hokage killed the kyuubi but it makes sense. The village hitting me for no apparent reason, calling me a demon. I am the container of that demon.' Naruto thought.

Iruka slowly walked towards Naruto but Naruto ran off, trying to hold up the tears from spilling down his cheek. Iruka ran out the door and the last thing he saw is Naruto turning a corner. Naruto is too fast.

"NARUTO!!!" Iruka shouted, hoping that he will stop and let Iruka explain to him but he did not.

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Sakura was sitting on a bench outside the school, waiting for Naruto to finish his exam. She knew that he will be one of the last students since his name starts with a U. She heard someone shouting Naruto's name. She now had a worried expression and raised herself off her seat.

She walked to the entrance and found something that surprised her. Naruto's face is on the wall, his fists slamming on the wall and his shoulders trembling. He was crying and letting the tears pour down. She knew that this is not normal. She slowly approached her blonde haired crush and tapped his shoulder.

Naruto turned to face Sakura, his eyes still flowing with tears and already red from crying. Sakura gulped, "Naruto, what's wrong? You didn't fail the exam, did you?"

Naruto gathered back his breath and shook his head, "No, I passed. Sakura, please, I need to be alone now. I... I really need to have some time alone."

Sakura backed away slowly as the blonde walked to a window and jumped out. She stood there, alone in the academy. She stood there as minutes passed by. She did not know what happened and hoped that Naruto will be okay. Dejectedly, she walked out of the academy and made her way to Naruto's favourite spot, hoping to see him there later and try to comfort him.

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Back at the academy, ANBU forces has caught Mizuki and will be sentenced for revealing the truth when he is forbidden to do so. Maki watched on as his supposed friend is taken away by the ANBU. How could this go any worse? He walked back to the staffroom only to find that he is the only teacher there.

It was already eleven in the morning and since that the students have all already passed, there is no reason to be here anymore. The academy will be closed for several months until it opens again to new students. The students that still have years before they sit for the graduation exam will have the holiday.

Iruka took a cup of coffee and started drinking it, trying to think properly. He still couldn't believe that Mizuki told Naruto the truth. He cursed loudly, throwing the cup on a wall, smashing loudly. Iruka grabbed the bridge of his nose, still trying to calm himself but he just couldn't. He grabbed his things quickly so that he can make his way home. He switched off the lights of the staffroom, walked out and closed the door behind him.

"So, what happened?" A voice said, catching Iruka by surprise.

He saw a man leaning against a wall, his arms crossed. He has a Jounin vest and his long dark pink hair hanging down by the shoulders. Iruka sighed heavily once more, knowing that Maki has a close relationship with Naruto.

"Come on, let's grab a seat and I will explain everything to you on what happened."

Maki nodded and the two made their way to a classroom. Maki's eyes were wandering around the hallways as it brought back memories of his academy days. He remembered laughing as he ran pass the hallway and also causing trouble with his older brother.

Iruka unlocked the door for one of the classrooms and lead Maki in. Iruka walked to the teacher's desk and pulled a chair. Maki walked to one of the student's table and grabbed a chair. He then pulled it next to Iruka and sat down, waiting for Iruka to start.

"It is a really long story but to make it long story short, Naruto knows of the truth now." Iruka explained quickly.

Maki blinked a couple of times to make sure he did not hear wrong. He looked at Iruka and he found nothing but seriousness. Maki sighed, "So, what happened?"

"Mizuki spilled it out after Naruto passed the graduation exam."

"Damn that Mizuki!" Maki said, punching the teacher's desk and accidentally breaking it. Maki shook his fist a few times to release the pain.

"I tried to stop him and try explaining things to him but he ran away before I could even tell him anything. I just hope he doesn't do anything drastic." Iruka said worriedly.

"He might if we don't find him."

"How? He could be anywhere in Konoha." Iruka said, turning to face his pink haired friend.

Maki smirked and did a seal. Iruka shivered as he looked at that seal. The seal that Mizuki requested Naruto use to pass the exam.

"Tajuu, Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

The whole room erupted with white smoke. After a couple of seconds, several clones of Maki appeared in the class. Iruka looked at the clones and is impressed that Maki can create this large amount of clones. He knows that Maki has the largest amount of chakra in the whole village but he never thought his chakra has that much to create this amount.

Maki felt Iruka's shock and chuckled, "This is just a sixth of my chakra."

Iruka's eyes went big and before he knew it, all the clones started to make their way out of the classroom, all jumping out of the windows. Iruka just watch on until the whole room is empty and silent once again. Even the real Maki is gone with one objective. To find Naruto.

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Naruto sat on the Hokage monument, watching the whole village from here. He just never thought that he is the cause of the villlage's pain twelve years ago. He continued cursing at himself. He looked down at the Hokage tower. The place he always dreamed where he would one day work there as the Hokage of Konoha. He brought his knees to his chest and hugged it tightly, trying to fight the tears from falling again.

He thought that his eyes are already dry from crying. He sniffed loudly and looked up at the sky. It was already high up and it means that it is noon now. His stomach is grumbling for food but he stubbornly refused to listen to it. Here he is trying to drown his sorrow and his stomach is asking for food.

Then, he felt a presence behind him. He knew of this feeling. His chakra signature is no doubt him and without even turning back, he asked, "You knew about the thing in me, didn't you?"

The figure approached the twelve year old, his long hair being blown back by the wind. It was like as if the wind is trying to hold him off from approaching Naruto.

"Yes, I knew." Maki responded.

Before he knew it, Naruto ran to Maki and punched him hard in the gut. Maki gasped in pain and surprise, feeling the air leave him. Naruto felt all his anger in that punch when the unthinkable happened. Maki disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Then, following the clone that disappeared in front of Naruto, around Konoha, Maki's clones were disappearing. There were about forty of them, all disappearing upon finding out where Naruto is. Naruto walked back to sit at where he was sitting earlier, waiting for the real one to approach.

He felt Maki approaching him from under. He blinked in confusion. How could Maki be approaching from below? Naruto felt that he is coming directly below him and he moved out of the way just on time as Maki emerged from the ground. Maki climbed out of the dirty ground and saw Naruto looking at him, confused.

"Hei, Naruto." Maki said, smiling.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked plainly.

Maki dusted off the dirt and sighed, "Look, Naruto. I can explain why I didn't tell you about the thing inside of you. You know that I love you and I wouldn't have hurt you."

Naruto crossed his arms on his chest, "I'm waiting."

"Well," Maki scratched his head, "It was an order by the Hokage that we do not tell you of the thing inside of you. It was to protect you. We fear that the kyuubi might try and control you because since the villagers attack you, we were afraid that you might be consumed in hate and then turn to the kyuubi for help."

Naruto stayed silent, waiting for more. Maki continued, "That is the reason why I and Kakashi are assigned to watch over you. I apologize that in the past I failed you sometimes because I was away on a mission so I couldn't look over you."

"But Naruto, do not let this incident turn away from your friends. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that since the villagers want you dead, you think that you should kill yourself, right?"

Naruto could not hide the shock on his face. He indeed planned his death by jumping off the Hokage monument. Was he that easy to read? His anger was now replaced by curiosity, watching Maki intently.

"I know of this Naruto, because I too, went through something similar but not because I posses a demon inside of me. I had this feeling when someone precious to me left the village and I felt that I no longer have any reason to live. But, I realized that there are others that will be devastated by my death."

Maki placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto, if you kill yourself, do you think Sakura will be happy? She will no longer be the happy girl that you love. She will be crying for weeks and might even die."

Naruto now blushed, "How do you know ?"

Maki smirked, "I am her uncle and I can see how you look at her Naruto. I know it is not just a crush Naruto. You love her and I don't expect anyone else to give her that love. But Naruto..."

Naruto looked up at Maki and he continued, "I am not saying that you have to confess of your feelings in a rush. But, don't take your time. You never know when she might find another that captures her heart."

With that, Maki disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto just stood there, not moving an inch. Today was full of surprises. First, he finds out why everybody in this village hates him and now, one of his close friends knew his feelings for Sakura.

After five minutes of standing there, he started to make his way to a place to satisfy his hunger, Ichiraku Ramen!

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Somewhere, in a village that lies close to the sand village's border, a woman was eating her lunch. She is a Jounin from the sand village and was assigned to eliminate an assassin that killed the village's leader but she found out that someone has taken care of her target.

What really pissed her off is that first, she came here for no reason and second, it was a Konoha shinobi that did the task. Of course, they are allies with the leaf village but that doesn't mean she enjoys coming all the way on a two day trip only to realize that she is not needed there.

She continued eating when she heard a couple of young teenagers giggle loudly and turned to look at the source of the giggles. There were three women around the age of twenty to twenty five. They were beautiful, no doubt. The sand village ninja wondered what they were talking about and decided to listen.

"At least the assassin is taken care of!" A blonde woman said.

"I know, and have you heard of the rumours?" A woman with black hair tied in pig tails said.

"What rumours?" The blonde woman asked, turning to face her companion.

"If you're talking about the rumours that it is a Konoha ninja that did the job, then you're wasting your breath. We already know of this." The third woman said, who is also a blonde but she allowed her hair to be loose.

"No no," The black haired said, shaking her head, "Rumours are that it is 'The Replicator' of Konoha that completed the task and the woman that saw the whole thing said that he is gorgeous!"

"The replicator?" The two women gasped in shock. The two blondes leaned forward, "What other details do you have?"

"Well," The black woman started telling the gossip, "The woman said that he is extremely handsome but he was weird. He had dark pink hair but it somehow fits him. She also got one of his weapons that was stuck into a tree."

The blonde that let her hair loose then asked, "Weapon? If he is the replicator, it means that is his custom kunai! Oh my god, I have to see it, feel it!"

The three women squealed once again, bringing in headaches to Himura who was listening to the whole thing. She stopped listening and started to eat again. However, she could eat. She was thinking about him. Her suspicious were correct. The Konoha ninja that is known as 'The Replicator' is indeed her long time friend. She smirked. She never thought that loser is capable. She will have to report this to the Kazekage.

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The moon is now shining brightly on the great village of Konoha. An orphan is now eating his dinner, two cups of instant Ramen and watching the TV. He was not really paying attention to the show however. He was thinking on what Maki told him earlier. That he was instructed by the Hokage not to tell him about the kyuubi. He forgave him about that but it is about what he said about Sakura.

Should he really confess his feelings soon? It is true that now they are ninjas, they will be putting their lives at risk and they will be put into different teams tomorrow. However, he also thought that his confession might end the relationship between him and Sakura. What if Sakura does not want that kind of relationship and stops being his friend?

Naruto sighed heavily at the thought as he finished his dinner. Tossing the Ramen cups into the dustbin, he started to prepare himself for bed. He walked into his room and switched on his air conditioning. He pulled the blankets up to his chest and closed his eyes and finally making his decision. He will not tell Sakura of his feelings yet but he will at least ask for forgiveness for leaving her so suddenly earlier today.

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Maki sighed heavily as he plopped down on his bed. He already told his niece on that what Naruto did today was something that probably stressed him out and did not want Sakura to bear his burden. She nodded in understanding. He had no doubt that she will forgive him. After all, he loves her deeply. The only question is just when he confesses his feelings for her.

He will try with all his strength to try and pair them up. Or at least, make them realize their love for each other. Maki closed his eyes and slept on his right side, hoping that at least their relationship will not be like his and Himura.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please Review. I will update ASAP.**


	6. Team Selection

**Hei, here is the update on this chapter. I am REALLY SORRY to one of my reviewers who tells me that my verb keeps changing from past and present tense and it confuses him. I am really sorry. I just suck in english and I know that is no excuse. I apologise once more.**

**Also, another reviewer states that I am not making naruto talk much with the other rookie 9. I apologise for that too as i plan to do that in the chuunin exams and beyond but i guess i can try to do that sooner. I already did in this chapter a little with Shika and Chou.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and please REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

CHAPTER 6: TEAM SELECTIONS

The sun takes its place once again to give life to the great city of Konoha. The sun allows the crops to grow and lets the inhabitants to do their daily work. In an apartment, a twelve year old orphan wakes up from his slumber at the sound of his alarm clock. He showed his frustration by picking up the said device and throwing it to the wall, smashing it to pieces.

Naruto looked at his once clock. He did not really care. The clock woke him up just when he was getting to a good part in his dreams, where he and Sakura were married and was just about to kiss when the alarm clock had to disturb him. He scratched his head and realized that he has about an hour to get ready for school. Well, not really school but to get to the academy and see which team he will be assigned to. He does not care who his team mates are but he prayed that Sakura will at least be his team mate.

He took off his pyjamas and made his way to the bathroom to have a good early bath. He enjoyed the feeling of the water washing his body and soon, started to wash himself clean. After several minutes of scrubbing here and there, he switched off the water and wrapped a blue towel around his waist. He made his way to the sink to brush his teeth.

After he brushed his teeth, he looked at himself in the mirror. His blonde hair has really grown long throughout the years and thick too. He is quite surprised that he looked almost like the fourth Hokage. After making sure that his face is clean to look at, he walked back into the bedroom to wear his usual attire. He had several of the same black shirt and blue pants. It is pretty comfortable and Sakura liked him to wear this, so why not?

Today is a special day so he decided not to eat his usual instant Ramen for a breakfast which even caught himself surprised. He decided to at least try and eat something healthy. He opened his fridge and saw a couple of eggs. He took one egg and a packet of milk and brought the two items out and placed it on the table.

He looked at the clock above him and it he still has about forty minutes before eight. He started to cook the egg the best way he can and it took him a few minutes to do so. He placed the egg on a plate and poured the milk in a small glass and started to eat his breakfast. It wasn't that bad for a person to cook egg for the first time in his life. Then again, cooking egg isn't really anything to be proud off.

He washed the plates after he finished eating. He walked back into his room for one more important item. He found it on top of the table next to his bed. He picked up his headband and tied it to his forehead. He looked at himself in the mirror in the toilet and nodded to himself. 'I look pretty good.' Naruto thought to himself.

Satisfied, he grabbed his house keys, walked out of his apartment, locked it and started to make his way to the academy. The villagers of course noticed that he now has a headband on his village and they surprisingly, do not whisper to each other as much. They either got tired of it or probably thought that they should respect a defender to their home.

While Naruto is walking to the academy, he just can't believe what Maki told him yesterday. That he is actually the uncle of his crush, Sakura. To make it worse, he knows about the crush and actually encourages him to confess his love to her. He will not do that today, perhaps just in the near future.

He spotted the academy and found that as usual, Sakura has not yet arrived. He found an empty bench and took a seat, humming a tune while he waited for his pink haired friend.

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In the Haruno household, Maki is busy getting ready for his day. He knows that his niece will be picked into teams today. He is also one of the Jounins selected to be a leader of one of the teams. Sadly, he heard from Sakura yesterday that Naruto and her did well on the test and that is something that will separate them.

Since the two did okay, there is a high chance that they will be put into different teams to balance a team. They cannot have a team where the members are all good. Sakura and Naruto will most likely be put into different teams to help the weak ones and Maki could find no student that is very weak. All of the students did fairly well.

After tying his headband to his forehead and picking his placing at least five of his custom kunai's in his back pouch, he made his way down to eat breakfast. It is already seven thirty in the morning and he has to report to the Hokage's office in fifteen minutes. Well, actually all the Jounins that are assigned to a team have to be in the Hokage's office in fifteen minutes.

He found his niece downstairs eating her breakfast. She wore the same outfit like yesterday; the only difference is that she has her headband on her head, allowing the bangs of her hair to fall. She did not tie her hair today and Maki is surprised that her hair is almost down to her hip. Sakura turned to face her uncle and gave him a smile and then turned back to finish her breakfast.

Maki sat on the dining table and realized that a bowl of porridge has already been served for him. He picked up his spoon and started to eat his breakfast. Sakura finished just a few seconds after Maki sat down and walked back upstairs to get ready. Of course, in Maki's eyes, she is already ready. She has a headband so what else does she need?

Sakura came down a minute later with no difference in her attire. The curiosity got the best of Maki and he asked, "I don't see any difference in your outfit. What did you go back up for?"

"I just straightened my hair. A girl has to look good, uncle Maki." Sakura explained, making her way for the door.

"Really?" Maki asked, placing his bowl in the sink, "Are you trying to look good for someone?"

He received no answer and could just hear the door close in haste. He chuckled softly and realized he is also running late. He took out his wallet and placed a certain amount of money on the dining table for Suyuki to use for her grocery shopping. He then walked out of the front door.

He has about five minutes to get to the Hokage's office and he won't get there on time even if he used the rooftops. He sighed and made a seal and soon, disappeared in a puff of smoke. He appeared right in front of the Hokage tower and started to make his way to his destination.

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Uzumaki Naruto is already restless. He has been sitting on the bench for about twenty minutes doing nothing but humming a tune which he grew bored off. He saw a couple of his friends walk by and they had small talked before the entered the academy. Nara Shikamaru's conversation was the one that made him nervous.

Shikamaru seems to know about his crush on Sakura. Although he stated that a few of his friends found them to be suspicious, he knows of Naruto's true feelings. When asked why he doesn't tell anyone, Shikamaru simply states that it is too troublesome. Typical Shikamaru.

It is already seven forty five in the morning and Naruto is just about to give up waiting when he spotted Sakura from the distance. She waved happily when she saw him and he just couldn't help but wave back and grow a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her when she neared him.

She simply nodded, "Well, today is the day."

"Yeah. I just hope I will be on the same team as Sakura-chan."

Sakura had to agree, "Yeah. It will be boring without Naruto-kun. You always were able to make me laugh, even at least once when we are together."

The two made their way into the academy laughing when Naruto brought out a question he has been meaning to ask.

"Sakura-chan, is it true that Maki is your uncle?"

Sakura immediately became nervous. Her uncle has told her countless of times to not tell him anything but it seems that Naruto has already been informed about this. She turned to face him, "What makes you think that?"

Naruto turned serious, "Sakura-chan, Maki told me yesterday that he is your uncle so don't play games with me. Is it a yes or a no?"

Sakura sighed in relief. If her uncle was the one that told her then it means she has no problem denying it. "Yeah, he is."

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Naruto asked, looking deep into her emerald eyes.

She shrugged, "He is the one that told me not to tell you."

Naruto looked at her for a couple of seconds and then turned back to look where they are going. The two continued on walking in silence. When they reached their classroom, they found the students to be all surprisingly quiet. Not a single sound is heard. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and they just shrugged at the weird atmosphere.

They took their usual sits and waited for Iruka to tell them what to do, waiting in anticipation.

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Maki was leaning lazily on a wall in the Hokage's room. He knew most of the Jounins present and is surprised that even the famed copy ninja is present. Of course, this is not his first time. Kakashi is said to have never passed a team due to his difficult test. Maki's test is far easier compared to the one of Kakashi.

Maki has been selected to be a Jounin leader for a bunch of Genin a few years back and they are all now Chuunins so he no longer has to be with them. Maki did not bother to listen to the Hokage for the first few minutes as the Hokage has to introduce to the new Jounins what is expected of them. He could even see Kakashi is not paying attention, reading his perverted book.

The only reason why Maki came is that he wants to know what teams Naruto and Sakura are. He wants them to be together though he doubt that is possible but it can't hurt to try. He remembered when he was picked to be in a team exactly fourteen years ago.

He chuckled softly when he remembered how he wanted to be in the same team with Himura but was not chosen. He was close but not close enough.

Flashback

The whole class were listening intently as their teacher took out a sheet of paper to read to the class who their team mates will be. Maki of course, did not care who his sensei will be or who his team mates are, as long as one of them is Himura-chan.

He took a quick glance at his brown haired crush. She, as usual, is sitting next to the so called genius of the class, Nara Kawada. He has black hair and his hair covers his left eye. He looks like a freaking emo. He wears a simple brown shirt and a black jacket to cover it and strangely for a ninja, dark blue jeans. Why would he wear jeans? It is difficult to move around for something like that but that is not his problem so he didn't care.

"Now, team 4 will be comprised of Haruno Maki!" His teacher called.

The mention of his name put him to full attention. He is currently praying silently that Himura's name will be mentioned. His teacher continued.

"Naga Megumi and Akimichi Oda. You will report to your Jounin sensei at training ground number four!"

His two new team mates nodded while Maki slumped in his desk. Now he can never be with her. He looked at her and to his surprise, she is looking at him. Of course, they are friends indeed but he wants to be more than that. Himura simply smiled at him and that caused his heart to hurt more to not be with her in the same team.

"Team will be Nara Kawada, Hajime Himura and Aburame Akamatsu! You are to report to your Jounin sensei at training ground number five."

Maki saw the look of Himura's face when she is paired up with the genius. His day could not get any worse. Well, that doesn't mean he can't be friends with her. He can still try to win her affections though his chances are low since she will be with her crush. And he has heard that Kawada has interests in her.

He turned to look at the two of them once more and he can already see her giggling as Kawada whispers something in her ear. He clenched his fists in anger but calmed himself after he told himself that she does not belong to him. He will try and win her heart. That's what he will do.

End of Flashback

Maki frowned on that memory. The only thing he ever achieved with her is just being her best friend and that is just not good enough. He wanted to be more but the moment he heard that the two were dating, his heart was crushed. He was lucky that his friend, Megumi, was there for him and told him that committing suicide is never the answer.

He pushed all those thoughts away and decided to pay attention in the Hokage's room. After all, the Hokage is ending his boring speech soon so he will be informing them of their students in probably a minute. He looked around the Hokage's room to pass the time and never realized that the room is full of pictures on Konoha's memorable moments like when the first Hokage defeated Uchiha Madara at the valley of the end.

He was always busy just listening to the missions details that he never paid any attention to the room's surroundings. He stopped admiring the room when the Hokage finally ended his boring speech and took out a piece of white paper, preparing to read the list of Genin names. He just waited to hear his name and after a couple of minutes, his name is reached.

"Team seven's leader will be of Haruno Maki. The students under you are Uzumaki Naruto..." The Hokage said.

Maki heard his first student's name and that already brought in hope for him. He waited for the Hokage to continue.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino."

Maki cursed loudly and all of the Jounins present turned to face him. He just realized he said that aloud and looked at everyone. He could feel the heat on his face and scratched the back of his head nervously. He just muttered, "Sorry."

The Hokage continued on reading out the names but Maki did not listen anymore. He is already thinking to try and convince the Hokage to change his mind. He wants the best for Naruto and Sakura. He didn't want the two of them to be just like him. The only difference is that the two likes each other.

"Hei, you alright?" He heard a voice ask him.

He turned to face the masked ninja and he just sighed, "I just wanted Sakura and Naruto to be under my leadership." He whispered to Kakashi.

Kakashi has his book covering his face to avoid people thinking that he is talking, "Well, you are still training them personally right? You still have the two of them."

"That is true but I also wanted them to be on the same team." Maki replied.

"You can't have them all, Maki. You should know that." Kakashi stated out.

"I know. By the way, any students under you this time have any interests?" Maki asked, hoping to chance the subject.

Kakashi shook his head behind his orange book, "Nope. They will most likely fail this test although I plan to teach one of your students, the Uchiha kid."

Maki looked at him, giving him a confused look, "Why?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Well, he needs someone to teach him the use of the Sharingan and I am the only person in the whole village of Konoha that has the knowledge to do so."

Maki nodded, "You will have to ask the Hokage for permission. You don't have to ask me, I will definitely agree. I mean, I have no knowledge of the Sharingan anyway and Sasuke will have to learn how to use it in the future."

Kakashi thanked Maki and walked back to his original position. The Hokage spent another five minutes telling the Jounins who their students are before they are finally finished.

"Now," The Hokage said after finish reading the list, "Are there any further questions?"

Silence greeted the Hokage. The Hokage took a puff of smoke from his pipe and then nodded, "Then you are all dismissed."

All of the Jounins nodded and started to make their exit. Of course, they would have actually just disappeared out of the office by using that technique but there will be too many white smoke so they all used the door. The Hokage had a smile on his face as the Jounins used the door. He was after all beginning to wonder what the use of the door is if they don't use it anyway.

The only ones left in the Hokage's office is Maki and Kakashi. The Hokage glared at the two Jounins as they walked up front, standing next to each other and standing nearer to the Hokage's table. The Hokage lit up a match and relit his pipe.

"So, what is it that I can help the two of you with?" The Hokage asked, not looking at them.

Kakashi took a step forward, "If I may speak first Hokage."

Sarutobi nodded and Kakashi continued, "I am just wondering if I can personally train Uchiha Sasuke from today. I mean, I will also someday have to teach him how to use the Sharingan properly so I thought why not start now?"

The Hokage heard the request and started to think. It makes sense since Sasuke has no one else to turn to in the teachings of the Sharingan. Sarutobi looked at the silver haired Jounin and nodded. Kakashi bowed, turned to face Maki and smiled. Maki nodded and Kakashi walked out of the office.

Sarutobi then put his attention to the last Jounin left in the office. Maki took a step closer, "Hokage-sama, I am hoping to request that the students Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura be placed in the same team."

Sarutobi raised one of his eyebrow as he released a puff of black smoke from his mouth, "And what reasons can you provide for that? Naruto and Sakura did well in the exam and you know very well that the reason why we put them in different teams. We are trying to balance the team and from what the lists stated, these are the best we can do."

Maki bowed low, "I understand that, Hokage-sama. It's just that I thought it would be better that they be put in the same team since I have personally trained the two of them and they work best together."

Sarutobi shifted in his seat, "That is actually true. However, if we did put the two of them together, your team will be too powerful and one of the team will be too weak. We cannot have that."

Before Maki could respond, Sarutobi continued, "I know that you have already attached a kind of bond with those two and you should be glad that the two of them are still training under you. The only difference now is that they will be separated and in different teams but when they are not in missions, you can train them in their free time."

Maki is about to protest but he thought about the logic that the Hokage said. He could not win this and he should be glad that the two will still be together when they train with him. They just won't be able to spend as much as time with each other. Maki raised himself and thanked the Hokage for his time and disappeared from the Hokage's room, leaving the old man to return to his stack of papers.

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"This is so boring..." Naruto whined as Iruka is still talking about how he is proud that all of his students passed.

"Don't worry, you'll live." Sakura assured jokingly.

"And now, you are now considered to be ninjas of Konoha. There will come a time when you have to put your life on the line but know that you are doing something good for your homeland. As you progress in your ninja careers, it will be extremely difficult for you but as long as you hold the will of fire, nothing can stop you!" Iruka said, finishing his speech. Deep down, he felt bad giving so much to these young children only for them to find out that they still have to sit for the 'real' Genin test. He can already tell that one team will be kicked out if the copy ninja has a team under him.

Suddenly, an ANBU appeared next to Iruka in a kneeling position. He had his head low and gave Iruka a sheet of paper. Iruka thanked the ANBU and he disappeared in a puff of smoke, not even leading a single trace that he was there.

Iruka read the paper and frowned. He can see the name Hatake Kakashi on team six but luckily for him that Naruto's name isn't on that team. Iruka cleared his throat loudly so he can get the students attention.

"Alright, I will now deploy all of you into a team. A team will be comprised of three members and you will be provided with a Jounin to guide you. I will not be repeating this so you had better listen carefully."

All of the students immediately stopped their conversation or whatever it was that they were doing. Iruka then started reading the names and the Jounin's that they are under. Upon calling the first three names for team one, the Jounin leader of team one entered the classroom and called her students out of the class. This continued on while Naruto and Sakura waited for their names to be called.

One of the funny thing is that the Jounin of team six never appeared when Iruka called his name. Iruka expected this and continued on reading the paper.

"Now, team seven will be comprised of Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and..."

Naruto slapped his forehead upon hearing the name of Sasuke. Of all the people that he has at least some kind of friendly relationship, it has to be Sasuke who never talks to anyone in class. As for Sakura, she is listening intently and prayed that it is her name that is called.

"And Yamanaka Ino. Your Jounin leader is Haruno Maki."

Ino squealed happily upon hearing her name called. The only reason she is happy is that she is teamed up with Sasuke. She is okay with Naruto but she is now so much happy that Sasuke is with her.

Naruto and Sakura are staring at each other. Sakura is depressed that first, she cannot be teamed with Naruto and now, it is her uncle that is their leader. Their team is going to be so much fun. She sighed.

'Damn it, why can't I be with Naruto-kun?' Sakura thought sadly.

'**Yeah, that Ino-pig doesn't deserve to be on that team! It should be our rightful place!' **Inner Sakura yelled.

'Well, this is what we get for passing the exam with flying colours.' Sakura thought sadly.

Naruto is also pissed as hell. He wanted to be with Sakura and now he has to not only put with Sasuke but also one of the loudest fan- girl of Sasuke, Ino. The only reason why he didn't really like the blonde girl is that she also constantly pick fights with Sakura because of her forehead. He hated that.

Iruka waited for Maki to enter but he did not show up. Iruka scratched his head, wondering where the pink haired ninja is. After waiting for half a minute, he continued on reading the list.

"Team eight will be comprised of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata. Your Jounin sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai." Iruka announced.

Unlike team six or team seven, the door opened and a woman with long black hair entered the class. She is wearing some red outfit with full of white bandages of some sort. She ordered her team members to follow her and the three ninjas followed. Iruka called for team nine and their Jounin and they also left. Naruto wondered where the hell Maki is. He wanted to start training.

"And last but not least, team ten will be comprised of Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Haruno Sakura. Your Jounin leader is Sarutobi Asuma." Iruka announced and the door opened to reveal a man with black hair and a black goatee, just like the Hokage. He is wearing a Jounin vest and a piece of cigarette in his mouth with his hands in his pocket.

"Alright, whoever that is under me, follow me. We are going somewhere to eat and introduce ourselves." Asuma ordered and the two males made their way for the door, Shikamaru rubbing his eyes to wake him up from his sleep.

Sakura started to climb out of her seat. Naruto grabbed her wrist and gave a smile, "Have fun with your new team Sakura-chan. I'll see you later."

Sakura looked into his ocean blue eyes and didn't want to lose the eye contact but she realized she is still in class and shook her head. "Yeah, I'll see you later." She answered softly and quickly made her way out of the class, following her two team mates.

Naruto decided to try and sleep until Maki arrives. He is rarely late for anything. Iruka also excused himself out of the class and now, only team six and team seven are left in the class. Sasuke, as usual is still brooding while Ino tries to start a conversation with him but getting nothing more than a grunt.

Naruto almost drifted to sleep when he felt someone sitting next to him. He lazily opened one of his eyes and realized it is Ino.

"Hei Naruto." She said cheerfully.

"Hei Ino. What are you doing here?" He asked lazily.

"Nothing. I mean, I just thought I could talk to one of my team mates."

"Well," Naruto raised his head from the table and sat back properly on his chair, "I guess we have to be closer now that we are a team."

Ino nodded, pulling away a strand of hair from her eyes, "So, Naruto, what do you plan on doing as a ninja?"

"What do you mean?" He asked her.

"Well, I mean, like me for example, I have to be a ninja because I am the next heir for the Yamanaka clan. I actually never wanted to be a ninja but here I am now to make my dad proud and I don't plan in disappointing him."

Naruto nodded, rubbing his chin, "Well, I guess I want to be acknowledged by the villagers here. And the best way to do that is to become the Hokage so that I can protect all of them. So, I guess I became a ninja to become the Hokage, I guess."

"Wow," Ino said, impressed, "That is a very high dream."

Naruto gave her his grin and they stopped their conversation when the door opened and a man with dark pink hair entered the class. For the first time since Naruto knew Maki, Maki has a stern look on his face. He did not smile when he looked at Naruto and the other students in the class. He has his hands on his hips.

"Whoever that is under me, team seven, get out of this class and meet me outside of the main entrance of the academy." He barked with authority.

With that, he left. Naruto gulped loudly and Ino did not move from the shock of their new Jounin. The way he ordered them reminds her of her dad's friend, Ibiki. Sasuke is a little surprised but he did not show it. He just grunted and got out of his seat and has his hands in his pockets as he makes his way out of the class.

"Come on losers before he gets pissed off." Sasuke said without looking at his two team mates. The two blondes scrambled out of their seats and walked behind the Uchiha. Ino wanted to talk with him again but she thought it over. Now is not the time. They have to see what their new Jounin wants.

Maki waited patiently outside of the main entrance of the school. He leaned on the wall next to the entrance of the academy, his face is low so it is well hidden and he has his arms crossed. He almost laughed at Naruto's shocked face for his new attitude. He has to act tough to show his new students that he is in command and they are to not complain. The only person who will know that he is acting all this out is probably Naruto.

As he waited for them, he just wished that Sakura is under him. He saw Sakura walking to a barbeque restaurant with Asuma and two males as he made his way to the academy. 'At least she has a reliable Jounin to guide her.' Maki thought.

Maki's head shot up upon hearing footsteps nearing the entrance of the academy from the inside. A few seconds later, a boy with black hair wearing a blue shirt and white shorts with his hands in his pockets came out first. Sasuke. He is then followed by Naruto and another girl that Maki recognises as the daughter of the head of the Yamanaka clan, Yamanaka Ino.

Maki used his head to tell them to sit on the bench in front of him and the three of them followed his orders, all sitting on the bench which perfectly fits three people. Sasuke sat in the middle, Ino on his left and Naruto on his right. Maki walked in front of them and has a bored face, his hands on his hips.

"Alright," He said lazily, "I am your Jounin leader and we are team seven. My name is Haruno Maki and has served as a ninja of Konoha for about, fourteen years. Now, why don't you start introducing yourselves by telling me your name and why you chose to become a ninja."

Naruto and Ino looked at each other and then at Sasuke, deciding who should introduce first. Naruto using body language tells her to go first and she faces Maki, who looks at her and nods, telling her to start.

"My name is Yamanaka Ino and I chose to become a ninja is to make my dad proud I guess since I will have to take over the clan when my father retires."

"So if your father is not the head leader, you wouldn't have become a ninja?" Maki asked.

Ino now got nervous, trying to figure out to tell the truth or come up with a lie. She looks at Maki and then decided, "Well, yeah. I have more interests in creating herbs. I have interests in flowers and plants so I know the herbs." She says, which is the truth.

"Alright, that's all I need to know." Maki says and then faces the Uchiha and he just stares back. "Your turn, kid." Maki tells Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke and chose to become a ninja is to make my clan proud and to kill a certain man." Sasuke says with no emotion in his voice.

Maki expected this. After all, it is his own brother that eliminated the clan so he expected Sasuke to dream of this. He is going to have to work hard to try and show that he should not be an avenger. 'Perhaps Kakashi can also help me with this.' Maki thought to himself.

Maki turns to face the blonde boy and Naruto fixes his headband and starts.

"The name is Uzumaki Naruto and I chose to be a ninja is to gain acknowledgement by the villagers. And the best way to do that," Naruto gets up from his chair and points to the Hokage monuments, "Is to become Hokage. That is my reason."

Maki nodded his head. He already knows of his dream so that is nothing new. He gestures for Naruto to sit down and when he did, he decided to give them the news. He clears his throat and looks at all three of them.

"Now that I know what I need to know, I need to give you the 'real' Genin exam to see if you have what it takes to be considered as a ninja of Konoha."

Ino raises her hand and Maki nods his head. "What do you mean 'real' Genin exam, sensei?" Ino asks.

"I mean that this will be the real exam to determine you have what it takes to become a ninja. Before you ask, I will tell you now. The exam that you passed in the academy is just to test and see if all of you have what it takes to become a ninja. It is also just to determine the team placement. And I wouldn't worry too much, Yamanaka. In the history of Konoha, not a single student that comes from a ninja clan has ever failed this test. Unless you will be the first to fail with the Uchiha over here." He points at Sasuke.

Ino gulped loudly and looked at her two team mates. 'Great, now there is pressure on my shoulders.' She thought worriedly.

"Hei, Sensei," Naruto said suddenly, "What happens if we fail the test?"

Maki chuckled, "If you fail, you will be sent back to the academy to restart everything. And trust me, everything means back from year one. You will have to spend another seven years in the academy and trust me; those that got sent back became normal civilians of Konoha."

Naruto's jaw dropped. He started sweating and clenched his fists. He knew that he can't fail this test. What has he been training with Sakura-chan and Maki here for two years for then? No, he must pass. He starts to calm himself down and turns to face Sasuke.

Sasuke did not react to the test. But in the inside, he too is scared. Even though Maki assured that a ninja that belongs to a clan never fails does not mean it is a hundred percent guarantee that he will pass. 'It's okay. I have Naruto here who is an equal here. The only problem here is Ino. But what is the test?' Sasuke thought.

"I will also tell you this," Maki said, rubbing his nose from itchiness, "This exam has a sixty six percent chance of failure. You now have the idea on how difficult this exam is so you should prepare yourself. But on the bright side, you are lucky that you are not under the team of Hatake Kakashi."

"Why?" Naruto and Ino asks at the same time.

"Let's just say that every year for the past ten years, he has been elected to become a Jounin sensei and to this day, none has past his test."

Naruto raises his hand and Maki allows him to ask his question.

"So sensei, when you said 'his test,' does that mean that the exam is different depending on the Jounin leader?" Naruto asks.

Maki has an impressed look on his face. He knew that Naruto has good observational skill but he proves himself once again. Ino also looked at Naruto, impressed but Sasuke is still emotionless.

"That is correct," Maki answers, "Each Jounin can test our team with our own kind of tests."

The three of them listened in silence. The only sound that can be heard is the breeze that blew past them. Maki waited for another fifteen seconds for them to ask but the three of them did not so Maki took that as the end of the conversation.

"Okay then, with no further questions, I want all three of you to meet me tomorrow morning for the test. I want you to be at training ground number seven at nine in the morning. And do not eat anything for breakfast." Maki informs them and dismisses them. The three students start to make their way to their respective homes when a voice is heard.

"Naruto! Get back here! I am not finished with you." Maki says loudly in a stern voice. Maki stopped in his tracks and by the voice; he can tell that he is not happy. Naruto reluctantly makes his way back to Maki.

Maki gestures for Naruto to sit on the bench where the team sat earlier. He sat in the centre of the bench and looks at Maki. Maki narrows his eyes on Naruto which made him even more nervous. Maki could not hold the laughter now and burst out laughing, shaking his head. Naruto now grew even more confused.

"Naruto, you should have seen your face when I entered the class earlier. And what makes it even more funny is the expression on your face you just had a few seconds ago. It's hilarious!"

Naruto sweat dropped and waited for Maki to stop laughing which lasted about ten seconds and took him another five seconds to fix his long pink hair. The pink hair reminds him of his crush and how he already missed her without her on his side.

"Alright Naruto," Maki said when he finally composed himself, "The reason I called you here is that we have to go and get Sakura for your daily training with each other."

"It would have been easier if Sakura-chan is here." Naruto complained.

"Look Naruto. I know you wanted to be in the same team with her, even me. I already tried to convince the Hokage but he cannot break the rules. The two of you did well in your exams so you cannot be in the same team or else, two teams will be imbalanced. Now, come on."

Maki then started walking away and Naruto followed. Naruto has his hands on the back of his head humming a tune while Maki just paid attention on where he is going. Naruto just has to follow the man next to him so he didn't really look where he is going. A few of the villagers looked at the two with disgust but they could not do anything with a ninja guarding the blonde.

They finally arrived at a barbeque restaurant. Maki leaned on the wall next to the entrance while Naruto has a confused look. He scratched his head and looked at the restaurants inside. It is beautiful and the restaurant is full with customers.

"Maki-sensei, what are we doing here?" He asks.

"We are waiting for my niece." He simply stated without looking at Naruto. He seems to be lost in thought.

"What would see be doing here? Is she on a date?" Naruto asks further, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Don't worry about that. She is here with her team and if she has a date, she has to get permission from me on the date."

The moment Maki finishes his sentence, four people walked out of the restaurant, which were the members of team ten. All of them turned to face the two members of team seven. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, lost in their own world in the eye contact.

"Hei, Maki!" Asuma said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Asuma. I am here for training and to borrow one of your students." He answered, pointing at Sakura.

"Ah yes. She is your student as is mine so that is not a problem." He answered, looking at Sakura.

"Hoi, Naruto, how are you?" A voice said and Naruto turned to face Shikamaru.

"Hei Shikamaru! I am great. How is your sensei?

Shikamaru grunted, looking at him with his eyes but not turning his face. He placed his hand on the back of his neck, "I guess he's okay but his smoking is troublesome for me. It hurts our eyes and he seems to keep getting new cigarettes the moment he finishes one."

Naruto laughed and turned to face the chubby kid with them. He has brown hair and wears some sort of green jacket and brown pants. He is from the Akimichi clan and he can be a good friend. All you have to do is not call him fat and everything will be okay.

"Hei Chouji." Naruto said, waving at him. Chouji was patting his stomach, clearly satisfied with whatever he ate, "What do you think of your new sensei?"

Chouji's eyes flashed and gives a thumbs up, "He is the best! He just treated us to a full meal of barbeque and I don't think there can be a better sensei than him."

Naruto laughed nervously. This Asuma guy must be crying his eyes out right now. The last time him, Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji ate, they had to pay mostly for Chouji's meal which is actually three times when Naruto ate at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura said, catching Naruto's attention, "What brings you here anyway?"

Naruto pointed at Maki who is still talking with Asuma, "Your uncle said that we are going to train today. So, I guess we came here to get you."

Sakura then walked next to Naruto and waited until the two Jounins finished their conversation. Chouji took out a pack of potato chips and started shoving in chips. He offered it to Shikamaru to see if he wants but he refused and then offered it to Naruto and Sakura. They too refused and Sakura almost puke from the food. She is already full from the barbeque.

"Alright, I'll see you soon Asuma." Maki said, ending the conversation.

Asuma waved as he takes his two male students with him. Maki watched until they disappeared from sight and then put his attention to his two students of two years.

"Alright, meet me at training ground number five. Get there quickly." Maki then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto and Sakura then started walking to their destination. It took them ten minutes to reach the training grounds.

"So, Sakura-chan, what do you think of your new sensei?" Naruto asks, hoping to start a conversation.

"He is okay I guess. I just don't like him smoking. It is bad for health and it hurts my eyes. But he seems to be a strong ninja." She answered.

"I wonder if Maki-sensei or Asuma is stronger." Naruto said as they opened the gate of training ground number five.

Sakura shrugged, "We will never know unless we can make them fight each other."

Naruto stopped walking and faced Sakura, "That's not a bad idea."

Sakura hit Naruto's head lightly, "Baka, don't you dare try anything like that."

Naruto apologized and the two made their way to the open field. They found Maki waiting under a tree and they could see from his expression that he has been waiting for them. The two approached the Jounin and he emerged from the shadows of the trees.

"What the hell took you two so long?" He asks, clearly displeased.

"Apologies but we just had to spend time with each other since we aren't going to have much time as we have now since we are on different teams." Naruto gave his excuse, not noticing the slight blush from Sakura upon hearing spending time together.

Maki still looked displeased, "Fine, but as your punishment, I want you to do one hundred push-ups, sit-ups and run around the training ground ten times. Now get to it!"

The two obeyed immediately and started to do the task at hand. Naruto dropped down to his stomach and started doing his push-ups while Sakura is on her back doing her sit-ups. The two of them took about ten minutes to complete the two tasks together and started running around the training grounds together.

It's no wonder Maki chose this training area. The field is three times larger than normal and so, it took them almost eighteen minutes to finish their warm ups. Sakura dropped down on her butt when she reached her uncle, panting while Naruto acted like normal although he is breathing heavily for oxygen.

Maki smirked, "Alright, today you will not be training. I want the two of you to fight each other. Your first spar against each other." Maki said.

"Spar against each other?" Sakura repeated, looking up at Maki, "Why?"

"Don't ask questions Sakura. You will be having your tests with Asuma and the two of us give the same tests. So, trust me that this spar will help you for tomorrow." Maki stated and walked to the tree earlier.

Naruto looked at Sakura and she looked at him, blue eyes meet green eyes. Naruto offered his hand and Sakura gladly accepted and he pulled her up. He used too much force and got Sakura off guard, so they were now in some sort of a hug. Naruto and Sakura's faces are just a few inches away, their noses almost touching. Naruto and Sakura blushed so hard; their faces almost looked like a tomato.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan." Naruto muttered his apology and let her go.

Sakura merely nodded. She missed the body heat even if it was just for a second. The two walked away from each other until they are quite a distance from each other. They faced each other and both are in an attacking stance.

Meanwhile, Maki enjoyed the show earlier. He had to stop his laugh or they would get mad at him. They actually hugged and almost kissed each other. He pulled that funny incident away and noticed that they are waiting for his order.

"Start!" He ordered.

Sakura threw three shurikens at Naruto who easily avoided while running forward. Naruto drew out a kunai and gripped it hard, preparing for hand to hand combat. Sakura did not move and just waited for him to attack, which made Naruto suspicious on what she might be planning.

Naruto finally reached her and kicked her in the stomach only to find that Sakura's body dispersed into pink flower petals. Naruto jumped back in shock and realized it.

'Genjutsu!' He thought, 'When did she cast it? I didn't see her do any hand seals.'

"If you are thinking when I cast this, it was the moment you avoided those kunai. They were used to distract you while I cast the genjutsu and I will torture you until you surrender, Naruto-kun." A voice said.

Naruto's surrounding then turned all pink with the petals all flying around him, clouding his vision. The petals then turned into different ninja tools, all slowly piercing his skin. The weapons are not attacking his vital organs, just small scratches. Naruto yelled in pain as the shurikens continue scratching him.

Then, the ground below him started to shake madly and a giant Sakura tree emerged from the ground. The roots grabbed Naruto's feet, causing him to be immobile. Naruto is already breathing heavily when he remembered Iruka telling him how to escape a genjutsu.

"Kai!" He yelled and the genjutsu dispelled and he found himself back in the training ground. He dropped to his knees in exhaustion. He realized that the wounds on his body were also part of the genjutsu and he found Sakura standing right in front of him.

"That is just a C-rank genjutsu, Naruto-kun. I suggest you surrender or I will put your mind to another torture." Sakura said, giving Naruto an evil grin.

Naruto made a seal and yelled, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Five clones of Naruto appeared and all of them ran straight to Sakura. All of the Naruto's surrounded Sakura and then threw a kunai at Sakura. Sakura grinned on Naruto's stupidity and jumped up high into the ground. Just as she predicted, the clones dispelled themselves by being attacked by their own weapons. Sakura smirked when she is suddenly shadowed by something above. She looked up to find Naruto there.

'When did he...?' Sakura thought but never finished that thought as Naruto lightly kicked her on her left shoulder.

She winced in pain as she started to fall to the ground only to feel Naruto grab a hold of her and placed a kunai on her neck. He gave her his foxy grin and despite the hurt on her shoulder, she could not help but feel her heart melt from looking at his grin.

They heard someone clapping and looked at Maki clapping as he made his way towards them, "Well done!"

Naruto put Sakura down and she had to use Naruto to balance herself. She is still wobbly but she can at least stand. Maki placed each of his hands on the two of their shoulders.

"The both of you did well but Naruto," He said, facing him, "You could actually lose when Sakura caught you in her genjutsu. Of course, she gave you a chance by putting you in a weak genjutsu. If she used one of her genjutsu's that even when you undo it(Kai), it will still not be able to release it. So Naruto, you have to be more careful."

Naruto nodded.

Maki smiled and faced the two of them, "Now, how about I treat you to some Ramen?"

His answer is responded by a cheering Naruto while Sakura watched him.

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In the Haruno household at dinner time, Maki and Sakura are eating hastily while Suyuki watched them in surprise on how hungry they are. They are eating like pigs. Sakura is understandable since Maki told her that she had training earlier today but she wondered what made Maki so hungry.

"So Sakura," Suyuki said, slicing a piece of fish for herself, "Who are your team mates?"

Sakura swallowed her food first before answering, "Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru mom."

Her mother smiled, "A boy from the Nara clan? That is good. They are known for being the smart kind. Perhaps it would be good to have an interest in him?"

Sakura nearly choked on her food and Maki had to pat her back. Maki had to grit his teeth in anger upon mentioning of trying to match a Nara together with her. He already had a bad experience with a Nara and he did not want history to repeat itself.

"Mom, we are just friends. I don't like him that way." Sakura said to her mother.

"Fine," She sighed, "At least the demon child is not with you."

"How many times have I told you not to call Naruto that?!" Maki yelled, slamming his a fist on the table, luckily not breaking it.

Sakura eating from fear of her uncle. She has never seen him this angry and why did her mother call Naruto a demon? Maki is now breathing hard and looking at Suyuki with anger. Suyuki calmly shrugged.

"He is, isn't he?"

Maki glared at her angrily and is about to answer when Sakura spoke, "What is wrong with Naruto? He seems nice to me."

"Sakura," Her mother said angrily, "Didn't I tell you not to be friends with him?"

"But he seems to be okay to me."

"Sakura! I don't want you to be with that... that demon!" She practically yelled.

"Sakura, why don't you go to bed?" Maki suggested, never taking his eyes off of Suyuki. Sakura gladly agreed, taking her plate and cup to the kitchen and after that, walking up the stairs. Maki heard Sakura's bedroom door close and then he spoke calmly.

"I already told you that she and Naruto are friends. What is so hard to accept about that?" He asked, controlling his anger.

"You know damn well why. He contains that beast inside of him. He might kill her just like he killed your brother!" She hissed.

"Don't you dare bring up Hanaki on this subject. Naruto is the container of the kyuubi and not the kyuubi itself. Why can't you get that into your thick skull?" He spat.

"I don't want to talk to you about this. There is no point. You probably never loved your brother and that is why you do not hate the demon child." She replied and made her way to the kitchen to clear up dinner.

Maki sighed heavily and made his way to his room, preparing for his sleep. He is going to have a headache soon if he doesn't sleep soon so he may as well sleep before it comes.

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Naruto is also preparing for his sleep. He just finished his dinner which was a cup of instant Ramen. The evening meal he had at Ichiraku Ramen with Sakura and Maki earlier really filled his stomach so he wasn't that hungry.

He brushed his teeth and once done, walked into his room and switched off the light in his bedroom. He walked to his window and looked at the Hokage's monument. The four Hokage's face are sculptured there and he can just see it now in the future his face on that mountain.

"Believe it." He said to himself.

He then dropped into his bed and dragged the blanket up to his neck. He closed his eyes and can't wait for his test for tomorrow. According to Maki, the spar he had earlier today is all he needed and he wondered why. He tried to ask Maki what their test are but his resolve is strong.

Naruto closed his eyes and hoped that he will be dreaming of Sakura. And if he did, he hoped that Sakura is dreaming about him.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And those of you pissed that they have different team, i apologise as I am trying to have a different story line and attempt to slow down the relationship of naruto and sakura. they still like each other but throughout the story, there will be bumps in trying to disrupt the relationship so yeah. Dont worry, it is NARUSAKU.**


	7. Maki's Test

**Hei, I just wana clear something one of my reviewer stated. That Naruto and Sasuke did well and why Sakura could not be on the same team since Ino could. The answer: No, ino did not do that bad. But she did not do the exam as good as Sakura and also, note that in the previous chapter, the hokage said "And from the list, this is the best we can do."**

**This shows that this is the best they can do to TRY and balance the team. If sakura is placed in, then the team will be WAY too imbalanced so yeah. I hope I cleared that problem.**

**Also, those wondering how Maki looks like, he looks like Dan, Tsunade's lover. Only he has pink hair so yeah. Now, hope you enjoy this chapter and please REVIEW. hehe.**

**Disclaimer: Dont own Naruto**

CHAPTER 7: MAKI'S TEST

The sound of the villagers of Konoha walking pass the streets woke up one the ninjas in Konoha. Although at this time, most of the ninjas are awake, this particular pink haired ninja slept in because he has no mission and the only thing he has to do is test a bunch of new ninjas at nine in the morning. However, the villagers are making too much noise and that woke Maki up.

Maki groaned loudly as he raised himself and sat on his bed, rubbing his eyes. He looks at his alarm clock next to his and it shows that it is seven forty five in the morning. Maki yawned loudly and decides to at least freshen himself up before he goes to the training ground for his team. He took out a towel and hangs it on his shoulder.

He walks to the bathroom only to find it lock. He knocked on the door and asks, "Are you done yet?"

"Almost, uncle Maki." A female voice responds.

Maki sighed and leaned on the wall, covering his mouth as he yawns the second time in just a minute. He is wearing a white tank top and blue boxers. He heard a click sound and the door of the bathroom opens, Sakura drying her hair fully dressed.

"It's all yours now." Sakura says as he passes him.

'She had better not use up all of the hot water.' Maki thought.

He hangs the towel on a towel rack. He switches on the shower and warm water flowed down on him, washing his body. He sighs happily on the heat. He took about six minutes to finish his shower and dries himself off. Then, he walks to the basin and starts to brush his teeth, making sure his teeth stay white. When you stay with two women throughout the years, you soon become a clean freak like them.

Once he is done doing everything he needs to do, he wraps his towel around his waist and walks back to his room. The clock shows that it is already eight ten in the morning. He locks the door and drops his towel, walking around the room naked while he picks out his attire. He finally decided to wear the same ninja attire he wears and then to finish it off, a Jounin vest to cover his upper body.

He opens one of his drawers and takes out his back pouch. He still has five of his custom kunai's and sees no reason to add any extra amount since he has no mission and he doubts he will use it for the test today. Once he is finished getting ready, he makes his way downstairs to eat.

He chuckled as he remembers that he told his students yesterday not to eat anything for breakfast. It is just part of the test to make them hungry which makes them have less energy. This is to help the ninjas to train as you never know when you have to fight the enemy even when you have no energy.

He enters the kitchen only to find one plate of bacon and eggs. He forgot. Sakura must have been told by Asuma the same thing. That she cannot eat breakfast. He decided to quickly eat before she finds him eating and might question him about this. He took a sit and started shoving food into his mouth and quickly swallowing them. He finished eating in just a minute, drinking his cup of milk to help the food down his throat.

He took the plate and cup to the kitchen's sink and placed it there for Suyuki to clean it later. He looks at the clock in the kitchen and it says it is eight twenty in the morning. 'I still have plenty of time.' He thought.

Maki decides to watch the morning news and walks to the living room. He found Sakura there, sitting on the couch and all of her ninja tools on the ground, counting them. She counts her weapon and then puts it into her back pouch.

She looks up when Maki enters the living room. He just smiled at her and then took a sit on a chair and switched on the TV.

"Hei, uncle Maki," Sakura said, "Are you okay with mum now?"

Without taking his eyes off the TV, he answers, "Yeah. We may have an argument yesterday but we are okay the next day. Let's just say that these arguments have been happening even before you are born so we are already used to it that these arguments have not much effect on our relationship."

"That's really weird," Sakura states, "But that's okay, I guess. I wonder why mum hates Naruto so much."

Maki's breathing stopped. He hoped that Sakura does not ask anymore as the more she asks, the more difficult his situation will be. "I don't know Sakura. Perhaps one day she will tell us. For now, just let her be and let her find out on her own that Naruto is a good kid."

"Yeah." She muttered.

After Sakura finished getting ready with all her ninja tools, she walked to the kitchen to check the time. It shows that it is already eight forty and she had better leave now before she gives a bad impression on her sensei, thinking that she is not punctual. She grabbed her back pouch in the living room and starts to make her way to the training ground.

"Are you leaving now, Sakura?" Maki asks from the living room.

"Yeah!" She replied loudly as she wore her ninja sandal, "I don't want to make my new team mates and Asuma-sensei to wait for me."

Maki chuckled when he heard Sakura call Asuma 'Asuma-sensei.' He is not that close to Asuma but they are still friends. They sometimes go to the bar to relieve themselves and they have been together on missions. The wind element is the best element for close range combat.

Maki hears the front door of the house open and close. He sighs and switches off the TV, deciding that it is also time for him to make his way to training ground number seven. Team six is the most unlucky team since they are no doubt going to be eliminated and not going to have a future in a ninja career. He sometimes thinks that Kakashi is too harsh on the kids but his test actually is a good way to send a message to them. If they pass.

Making sure that he has all his ninja tools, he decides to make his way to the training ground. He checked the time and it is already eight fifty in the morning. 'I guess I will be a little late but that's not a problem. If they complain, I will make sure they regret it.' Maki thought.

"Suyuki, I have to go now!" He yells from the kitchen to make sure Suyuki hears him from the backyard.

"Alright. Have a good day!" She yells back.

Maki sometimes wonders how they can just forget the incident yesterday. He ties his headband on his forehead and walks out of the house, allowing the sunlight to shine on him. He then starts to make his way to the training ground, taking his own sweet time as he hums a tune.

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At training ground number seven, a lone boy is waiting there alone. He arrived here a little early from the appointed time and did his warm ups to burn some time. He arrived here twenty minutes before nine so he did some push-ups and ran around the field about two times. When he realized it is finally nine, he waited under a tree to hide from the heat.

Sasuke's stomach is now grumbling from not eating breakfast. 'I wonder why he told us not to eat breakfast.' Sasuke thought. Then, he saw another figure entering the training ground and he recognized the blonde boy. He is wearing a dark brown shirt today with black shorts like him; only Sasuke's shorts are white.

Naruto just waved at Sasuke and Sasuke merely nodded. The blonde took a seat next to Sasuke, placing his backpack on the ground. Sasuke looks at the bag and points at it.

"What's with the backpack?" He asks.

"Wow, you actually can talk?" Naruto says, faking astonishment.

Sasuke gave Naruto a death glare, "Will you just answer my question?"

"Relax, will you? I'm just joking. Inside the backpack are a couple of my ninja weapons I brought. The normal back pouch provided by the shops was not enough."

Sasuke looked at the blonde, "You brought that much weapons?"

"Well, when you are fighting a Jounin, you are going to need all the weapons you need."

Before Sasuke could answer, they heard a voice calling them. The two males recognized the high pitch voice. They turned and they were right. Ino has arrived and is waving frantically at them. Or to put it right, waving at Sasuke. Sasuke groaned and went back to brooding.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Ino said, smiling at him.

"Hm," That is all that came out of his mouth.

"And a good morning to you, Naruto." She says but not as enthusiastic when she said it to Sasuke.

"Morning, Ino." Naruto replies and takes a look at Ino. She is not wearing her headband and realizes that the headband is tied on her waist. She is wearing a dark purple top and purple skirt and has the same sort of bandages like the woman Kurenai.

"What are you looking at?" Ino asks and Naruto continues to look at her from head to toe.

"Nothing Ino. I am just checking you out." Naruto replies and had no idea what he actually said.

"You pervert!" She yells and almost hits him in the head when a puff of smoke appeared in front of the tree. Maki appears in front of them with his hands in his pocket, using the same expression as yesterday. Bored.

"Alright, I apologize for being late but let's just get straight to the test." Maki says, looking at all three of them.

Naruto and Sasuke both got up and prepare themselves. Ino gulped and stood between the two males, feeling protected. Maki scratches his head and clears his throat.

"Alright, this is what you need to do to pass the test. Before I explain how to pass, I will explain to you why you are all put into three man teams. Oh, and before I forget, you only have about an hour and a half to land a hit on me. If you do not hit me by the appointed time, you fail."

All three of the kids nodded and Maki continued, "The reason for that is simple; Teamwork. When you perform missions, ninjas work best when they are in a team. Of course, the skills of an individual are also an important factor but even the strongest ninja cannot beat a team with good team work. So, this test will prove that factor."

"What do you mean?" Ino asks.

Maki sighs, "This is the test. I want the three of you, no matter how you do it, to land a blow on me. You can use all your ninja weapons, come at me as if you have to kill me. All you have to do is hit me once, even if its a small scratch from a shuriken or a kunai. This is to show that no matter how skilful I am, I will still receive a hit from you guys."

"Just one hit?" Naruto asks, cracking his knuckles.

Maki nodded and Naruto instantly runs up to Maki with his right hand charged for a punch. Sasuke smirks, "He won't hit him, he is too slow and he is already telling the Jounin that he is going to use his right hand to punch him."

However, to everyone's surprise, Naruto successfully punches Maki's left cheek. Maki starts to fall from the blow. Naruto has a smile on his face while Sasuke and Ino just look at the falling Jounin, shocked.

Unfortunately, the falling Jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a confused Naruto. Naruto suddenly felt strong arms grab his neck and felt a cold metal poking his neck. He could turn his face to look at his assailant but he could see dark pink hair on his shoulder.

"Naruto, I never said start." Maki simply says.

'When did he create a shadow clone?' Sasuke thought.

'This is going to be hard.' Ino thought worriedly.

"Oh, and Sasuke," Maki said, turning to face Sasuke, "I am your sensei now. Don't just call me 'that Jounin.' It's pretty weird."

Naruto did not do anything. He just gritted his teeth in anger on Maki's arrogance. Maki could feel Naruto's killer intent and decides to start the match.

"Begin!" He barks and kicks Naruto's back, causing Naruto to almost trip and fall. Naruto got his balance and turns back to Maki, who has a bored expression on his face. All three young ninjas grabbed a kunai and charges at Maki.

Sasuke is the first to reach the pink haired Jounin and uses his arm that is wielding the kunai to try and slice Maki in half but Maki grabs his wrist and throws him to the incoming girl. Ino's reflexes are too slow and felt Sasuke crashing on her.

Ino realizes that Sasuke is on her and blushes hard, "Sa..Sasuke..-kun?" She stutters.

Sasuke shakes his head, trying to clear his head and pushes himself off of Ino.

Naruto saw the whole thing and realizes that close combat will result in the same thing like Sasuke. He tosses his kunai, aiming Maki's head but Maki merely moves his neck to avoid it. Naruto jumps toward his bag, opens it and tosses several kunai and shurikens. Maki narrows his eyes, turning serious. He grabs a normal kunai and starts blocking and avoiding the weapons that were aimed at him. After the attack stops, he sees several Naruto's coming towards him, each wielding three shurikens.

Naruto's clones all tosses the shurikens at the same time and Maki easily avoids them, throwing his own shurikens at the clones, dispelling them. As he is still in the air, he sees the real Naruto smirking. He gives a confused look and feel someone above him in the air.

He finds Sasuke high above him, with his right leg charged for a blow. Sasuke uses all his might for his right leg to hit Maki but Maki easily blocks it and landed on his feet. However, the attack is not over and jumps up once again to avoid several kunai's that were coming at him.

Ino curses at Maki for avoiding her attacks. When Maki landed on the ground once more, he jumps back twice to clear some distance between him and the three young ninjas. 'Damn, that was a close call.' He thought, catching his breath.

Ino jumps back to her comrades and stands next to Sasuke who is standing between Naruto and Ino.

"So, now what?" Ino asks without taking her eyes off the pink haired ninja.

"I don't know. It seems we need to really catch him off guard to land a blow on him." Sasuke answers, panting lightly.

"I've got a plan." Naruto says, turning to face his two comrades.

He then starts whispering to the two and Maki could see from here that Sasuke and Ino are nodding every few seconds. Of course, if this is a real fight he wouldn't give them a chance but they are inexperienced so he will give them the chance.

"Alright, so you guys got it?" Naruto asks to confirm the plan.

Sasuke and Ino nod their head and the three of them faces the pink haired Jounin who is waiting for them patiently. Sasuke and Ino took out a kunai and held it tight, preparing for a close range combat rather than tossing it.

"Are you guys done discussing?" Maki asks loudly.

His question is answered by Sasuke and Ino charging towards him. He narrows his eyes when he realizes that Naruto is running in a different direction. 'Is he trying to get me from my blind spot?' He thought to himself.

He had to then pay attention to the two young ninjas when they attacked him with their kunai. Ino jumped forwards and tried to attack his neck but Maki ducks. Sasuke expected this and tosses his kunai. Maki blocks it with his kunai. With Ino still in the air, he kicks Ino light on the gut, throwing her towards Sasuke.

Sasuke knew that Maki tries to do the same thing just like he did earlier. Sasuke grabs Ino and places her on her feet. 'Good, now his attention is now on us and not on Naruto.' Sasuke thought happily.

Sasuke then started doing seals and when he completes it, starts to inhale air.

"Katon! Goakakyuu no jutsu!"

Maki is impressed that the young Uchiha can use a high level fire technique. Maki jumped up into the air and found Sasuke and Ino in the air with him. Sasuke behind him and Ino in front of him. Ino swings her leg, trying to kick the side of his neck but Maki grabbed it and throws her to the ground. Sasuke grinned as the plan is going smoothly. With the blonde girl now safely on the ground and Maki, falling to the ground but still in the air, Sasuke starts to do seals again.

"Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Maki glances back at Sasuke and sees about six fireballs aimed at him. He speeds up his fall and when he reaches the ground, starts avoiding the fireballs. It is quite easy avoiding the fireballs when he forgot that Ino is on the ground with him. He saw a kunai land in front of him with an exploding tag.

"Shit!" He cursed loudly and jumped back on time as the tag explodes, dust scattering all over the air.

'What are they planning? Ino purposely aimed the kunai on the ground to make me avoid it.' Maki thought as he realizes that he jumped back to a river. He starts to gather chakra on his feet to avoid being wet.

He lands softly on the water, looking back at the two young ninjas pointing at him.

"Hei, he's not supposed to do that!" Ino complains.

"Damn it, Naruto, just do it now!" Sasuke yells.

Maki cocks his head to the left in confusion until he felt about five chakras from below him. He looks down and sees five Naruto's swimming up, and he quickly jumped back. At the nick of time, all five of the Naruto's emerged from the water, cursing something about being too slow or not fair.

Maki landed on the opposite side of the river with all three of his students on the side, Naruto dripping wet. Maki had to admit, that was a close call.

"So, what did you guys really plan?" He asks, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"You," Naruto points at Maki, "Are supposed to fall into the water. I was down there ready to ambush you and land a blow on you."

"Yeah sensei," Ino said, "How come you can stand on water? That's not fair."

Maki smirks, "I admit that plan should actually work. Even when I was standing on water just now, I did not expect Naruto to be waiting in the water for me. However, standing on water is basic knowledge for a ninja when they reach Chuunin level. I will teach you when you guys are Genins and under me."

Naruto clenched his fists in anger while Sasuke grunted in frustration. Ino is panting now. Her stamina is not as high as the boys and she grows tired quickly. Naruto turns to face Sasuke, "So, now what do we do?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I can't think of a plan right now. I am too pissed off!"

"A ninja must always stay calm." Ino pointed out.

"You are not helping Ino!" Sasuke snapped at her.

Ino gulped and back down, not wanting to be on Sasuke's bad side. Naruto sighs and faces Maki once more who is walking towards them. Naruto can't believe that he is now crossing the river by walking on water. He makes it so easy as if he is walking on the ground.

"NOW!" Naruto said a little too loudly.

That caught Maki by surprise and he stopped walking and moved in a defensive stance. He is still on the water when suddenly; the river below him started exploding. 'Exploding tags?' He thought. As he jumped into the air, he looked at Naruto. 'So, you did not just wait for me, you planted explosives too?' He thought, impressed.

As he is still in the air, Sasuke starts on the attack. He forms his seals.

"Katon! Goakakyuu no jutsu!"

Maki cursed as the great fireball is aimed directly at him and he can't avoid it. He takes out a small scroll and takes it out, opening it. The great fireball is then sucked into the scroll. Maki sighs in relief when he is suddenly grabbed by three Naruto's. He looked at all three smiling Naruto's as they brought him to the ground.

Maki can actually break free from the grip but he is interested in what they are trying to do and is sure he can avoid it. The three Naruto's brought him in front of Ino who formed the clan's seal. Maki's eyes widened when he realized what they are trying to do.

"Mind Transfer technique!"

Maki's body suddenly went stiff and lost control of his body. Ino's body also suddenly dropped but Sasuke grabbed her, holding her. Ino now controls Maki's body. The three clones of Naruto then dispelled themselves to allow Ino to do the final touches. She controlled Maki's hands to bring it up to his face and gives himself a slap on the face. She then dispelled the technique.

Ino shook her head a few times as she transferred back to her own body. Sasuke smiles at her and lets go of the blushing blonde, looking at their sensei. Naruto approached the shocked Jounin.

"So, do we pass?" He asks, giving his foxy grin.

Maki looks down at the blonde boy and then at the Uchiha and the Yamanaka girl. He grabs the bridge of his nose and says, "I'm impressed. You guys actually planned to fake an argument between yourselves when your first plan failed to catch me off guard. But tell me, what if I really did drop into the water."

"Then I try and hit you." Naruto answers.

"And if I escape?"

"Me and Sasuke-kun will be ready to engage you." Ino answered for Naruto.

Maki nodded and then puts his hands on Naruto's shoulder, "Well, I guess all I can say is that tomorrow, team seven will begin as a team."

Naruto punches the air, "Yeah! We did it!"

Sasuke, for the first time gave a smile and walked under a tree to relax. Ino breaths out a sigh of relief and follows the Uchiha. Maki looks at all three of his students. They indeed caught him by surprise. He knew that these three holds great promise and perhaps can be one of the best team to be produced in Konoha's history.

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"Damn it." Sakura cursed as she jumps back to her team mates, her face dirty and bruised. Shikamaru called back his shadow while Chouji continues to fight Asuma. Their fifth attempt on hitting Asuma failed miserably. Shikamaru thought their plan would work but Asuma somehow noticed that Chouji was not among them and prepared himself.

Sakura kneels next to Shikamaru, "Now what?"

Shikamaru bites his thumb, "I don't know. I need to think clearly of a plan. It has to be something that Asuma does not know. He seems to have dug out some information on us and knows about your genjutsu and Chouji's ability to increase his size."

"We only have an hour before our time is up." Sakura pointed out and Shikamru nods his head.

"There is something that I have been meaning to try with my shadow mimic technique. I'm not sure if it will work but this is the last kind of tactics I can think of and my chakra will only allow me to last about eight to eleven seconds. So, we will have to act fast." Shikamaru says after thinking for ten seconds.

"You are able to think up of a plan in just a mere ten seconds?" Sakura asks, impressed on her team mate's quick thinking.

Shikamaru smiled, "Actually, this is my eighteenth plan but I think that this is the one that will work best. Now, get Chouji over here," He told Sakura, "He's still fighting with Asuma-sensei and he is not going to win even if he fights from dawn until dusk."

Sakura chuckled and ran towards Chouji. Chouji enlarges his hand and starts trying to land a blow on Asuma but Asuma is avoiding them with ease and actually still smoking. Sakura throws a kunai with an exploding on the ground, a few inches close to Asuma's feet.

Sakura grabs Chouji and drags him back while Asuma jumps back as the tag explodes. Shikamaru uses his hands to avoid any of the dust or rubbles to enter his eyes. Sakura lands next to Shikamaru with Chouji, breathing heavily for air. Chouji takes out a small packet of potato chips and starts eating furiously that some of the chips fall out of his mouth.

"Alright. This is the plan. Chouji, I want you to increase the size of your hands again and try to hit Asuma-sensei until you can finally make him jump to a tree. Any tree." Shikamaru explains and then looks at Sakura, "Sakura, the moment Asuma-sensei lands on a tree, I want you to cast one of your strongest genjutsu on Asuma. I know he can release it but he will take a couple of seconds to do so. Try to hold him in the genjutsu as long as you can and I will try and get him in the shadow mimic technique."

Sakura and Chouji both nod their head at the same time. The three then glance at the Jounin who is busy lighting another cigarette. Shikamaru then forms the seal for the shadow mimic and tells Chouji to start the plan.

Chouji enlarges his hand and charges forward Asuma. Asuma narrows his eyes as he finds this strange. 'Chouji is coming after me alone again. Shikamaru is ready to cast his shadow and Sakura is not doing anything. What are they up to?' He thinks as he ducks from the enlarged fist.

Chouji starts punching left and right with Asuma avoiding easily. Chouji remembers he needs Asuma to get under a tree so he slams two of his fists on the ground. Asuma jumps to his left, landing below a tree.

Sakura forms two seals and casts her genjutsu. Asuma soon find that he is no longer in a training ground but in a room full of mirrors. The mirrors start to break and the pieces of the mirror scratches his body from all sides. 'Damn genjutsu!' He thinks, feeling the pain as a mirror lands deep into his kneecap.

"Kai!"

The genjutsu fades away and he finds himself back on the training ground. He checks his body for any wounds and found none. He has been in the genjutsu for four seconds and then sees something coming towards him. A black shadow is coming for him fast. His eyes become large in shock and jumps back.

"It's no use! I already calculated how long your shadow can go." He says, stopping a few metres. He has already judged that at this time of the day, the shadow can go only as long as thirty metres and he is now thirty two metres away.

To his surprise, the shadow continues on and he is too late to move away. The shadow catches him and he can no longer control his body. He tries to move only to just tremble slightly, causing Shikamaru to struggle to make sure he does not escape.

"Now your ass is mine!" Asuma hears Chouji shouts.

The next thing he know is a fist punching him hard on his left cheek. The punch is so hard that a little blood came out of his mouth from the impact. Shikamaru released the jutsu before the punch so he did not feel it. Asuma drops on his right side, looking at a pissed off Chouji. He realizes that he dropped his cigarette and he picks it up, sticking it back to his mouth.

He turns to face Shikamaru who no longer has the seal, "Kage Mane no jutsu, was a success."

"How?" Asuma says as he rubs his left cheek, "Your shadow was not supposed to go more than thirty metres and I already checked that I am precisely thirty two metres away from you. My calculations couldn't be wrong!"

"That is true sensei," Shikamaru replies, standing up, "Even I thought it should not go longer than thirty metres but I guess my test is right."

"Test?"

"Yeah. When you were under the tree and jumped back to avoid my shadow, the shadow of the tree increases the length of my shadow. So, my shadow can go more than thirty metres and caught you." Shikamru explains, smirking.

Asuma listens and puts a hand on his face in disbelief. 'I guess that is something new to learn from the Nara clan.' He thought to himself as he released a puff of grey smoke.

The three students of team ten then walks to their defeated sensei. Well, not defeated but defeated in the test. He looks at all three of them and sighs, "I guess you all pass. Congratulations, team ten!"

"We did it!" Sakura cheers happily. Chouji starts to eat his pack of potato chips again to show his happiness while Shikamaru simply shrugs.

"Starting tomorrow," Asuma continues, "Team ten will be ready for missions."

"Took you guys long enough." A voice says and everyone of team ten turns to face four figures emerging from the trees. Asuma already sensed them but he didn't think it would be them to come.

A man with three children comprised of two males and one female. The man has dark pink hair. One of the male has black hair while the other is a blonde, the same hair colour as the female. Maki is clapping for his niece's passing of the test.

"Congratulations team ten! I guess team seven and team ten are ready for action tomorrow." Maki states, smiling broadly.

Asuma walks to Maki while the kids of each team starts to talk with each other. Asuma sighs, "I really didn't think they could pass, you know? I actually wanted to do an A-rank mission tomorrow but it seems the two of us will be stuck doing D-rank for a few months now."

Maki nodded, "Doing D-rank missions again reminds me when I became a Jounin sensei five years ago."

"You actually sound happy to be doing D-rank missions." Asuma points out.

"I guess I am happy but not because of the D-rank missions. I am just happy to be receiving the joy of having students again. And one of my students is a student I have trained two years ago." Maki replies, giving his reason.

"Yeah, your niece and student, Sakura, is talented in the genjutsu field. For a girl at that age, her chakra control must be good."

"It is good," Maki answers, turning to face Asuma, "I actually plan to let her be a medic and she too, has interests in being one. Konoha needs medics more than genjutsu specialists."

Asuma inhales the cigarette, "By the way, don't you think we have to report to the Hokage since our team passed?"

Maki's eyes became large upon hearing that. He completely forgot about that, "Right! We had better go now."

Maki forms a seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appears to the right of Maki and a clone appears. Asuma frowns when he sees the clone. There are some benefits for learning Kage Bunshin after all.

"I wish I learned Kage Bunshin."

Maki laughs, "Well, go on and report already. I will take both of our teams and treat them to that barbeque restaurant you took them to yesterday."

Asuma gulped loudly, "You had better check your money before you do. Chouji over there can take up the spending of a B-rank mission."

Maki just nodded and calls the student to him. Asuma turns to Maki's clone and disappears as they start to make their way to the Hokage tower. So, only one more team is allowed to pass to become a ninja team and the two Jounins wondered whose team it will be.

It took ten minutes for Asuma and the clone to arrive at the Hokage tower. The sun is now up high in the sky and it means it is lunch time now. When they reached the door of the Hokage, Asuma knocks on it and heard a voice ordering for them to enter.

Asuma opens the door and him and the clone enters the room. Sarutobi signs a paper and then looks up at his guests. He seems surprised for his son to visit at this time along with Maki. He uses his two hands to form a bridge on the desk and rests his chin on the bridge.

"Asuma, Maki, what brings you here?" He asks.

"Both of our teams have passed the test, Hokage-sama." Maki answers, bowing slightly.

"They passed? Well, that is good. What teams are they?" He asks as he takes out a piece of paper from a drawer. Both Jounins could see that the paper are the ten teams from the academy and they could see that team one, three, four, six and nine have a cross next to them, indicating that they have failed the test.

"Team seven under Haruno Maki and team ten under me." Asuma answers his father.

Sarutobi nods his head as he takes out a pen and gives a tick next to the team mentioned. After that, he puts the paper back into the drawer and then returns to his stack of papers.

"Alright, you guys can go now." Sarutobi barked, furious as he has to return back to his stack of papers.

Asuma and the clone bows and walks out of the Hokage's room. The two are walking down the hallway when a female Jounin is walking towards them. The two recognized her as the new Jounin. She was appointed as a Jounin a few months ago and Maki knows that Asuma has an interest in her.

"Kurenai-san, what brings you here?" Maki asks the female Jounin.

"My team has passed my test so I have to report to the Hokage. What about you and Asuma-san? What are you two doing here?" She asks, looking at Asuma and then to Maki.

"Our teams also passed." The clone is about to dispel itself when Kurenai asks a question.

"Maki, are you free tomorrow night?" She asks shyly.

The clone raised its right eyebrow, "Why?"

"I was thinking... that we could... you know? Go on a date?" She says, blushing lightly.

"Apologies, Kurenai-san but I will be busy with my family. I am sure you know I have to be at home with my family." Maki replies although that is a lie. He already knows that Maki has an interest in her and he doesn't want to ruin their friendship.

Before Kurenai could respond, the clone dispels itself. Kurenai blinked as she realized it is a shadow clone. She knows Maki likes to use shadow clones but she didn't think he would go that far.

"Kurenai, I am free tomorrow, you know?" Asuma says, scratching the back of his head, blushing lightly.

Kurenai looks at him and can see that he is blushing. 'Well, he is kinda cute. I don't see why not.' She thought to herself.

"Alright. On one condition, Asuma." She says.

"Yes?" Asuma asks, his heart beating madly.

"No smoking when we are on our date." She states. Asuma groaned but agrees, knowing that a date with her and not smoking for a few hours is worth it.

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At the barbeque restaurant, Chouji is basically drooling like a waterfall as he cooks the meat, turning them upside down every few seconds to allow it to cook. Everyone in team seven is looking at him in disgust but Sakura and Shikamaru did not react much since they saw him like that yesterday.

Maki is now getting nervous. Asuma told him that Chouji likes to eat but he didn't think this much. He starts counting his money and starts to regret taking the two teams here but then again, they passed the test and deserve it. He just hopes that Suyuki will not kill him later.

When the meat is cooked, Chouji is the first to pick the meat and putting them on his plate. That left the others with only one meat for each but that is good enough. The waiter served the table with another plate of red meat and Chouji quickly starts eating his cooked meat so that he can eat the new delivery.

"So, Sakura-chan," Naruto asks Sakura, whom is sitting next to him, "How did you pass the test?"

"All three of us had to work together but it was Shikamaru that thought up of the plan." She answers, looking at Naruto.

"Shikamaru?" He then turns to face his friend, "I thought you might think that it will be troublesome to do all these sort of thinking."

Shikamaru sighs heavily, "It is, but going home and telling my mom that I failed will be even more troublesome so I had better face the less troublesome thing that the bigger one."

Everyone laughs except for Chouji who is still busy eating his meal. Even Sasuke chuckled slightly but made sure no one noticed it. In the end, everyone enjoyed their meal, despite Chouji eating most of it but everyone managed to fill their empty stomach. The only person that suffered is Maki as he had to use up all his money and still owe about three hundred more ryou to the shop owner and he has to pay for it by washing the dishes and serving as a waiter. Luckily for him, he used the shadow clone to speed it up.

"Let me walk you home, Sakura-chan." Naruto offers his pink haired friend.

Sakura blushed slightly, "That is not necessary Naruto-kun. It is still bright you know?" She answers, although her inner is thinking differently.

'**What the hell is wrong with you? Just accept it and then when we reach our doorstep, go and make out with him.' Her inner scolded Sakura.**

'Stop thinking all those perverted thoughts. We are too young to be doing all that!' Sakura yelled to her inner.

'**Yeah, but we have to make up for the less times we can spend with each other now. So just shut up and kiss him later!' Her inner stated.**

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asks worriedly, waving his hand in front of Sakura's face.

"Oh, sorry Naruto-kun. Come on, let's go." She says and the two start making their way for Sakura's house. The two starts making small chat while they walk the busy streets of Konoha, ignoring the glares that the villagers are giving. When they reached Sakura's house, Sakura simply waved goodbye to Naruto and he waved back. And Sakura got the worse headache from her inner yelling at her for not kissing Naruto.

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Hundred of miles away from Konoha, the leader of that village is absorbing everything that one of his top Jounin is telling him. She just told him that the man known as 'The Replicator' is a Jounin of the village that they will be attacking in a few months time.

"So, this guy is a Konoha ninja." The Kazekage mutters to himself.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I have heard from the villagers from my last mission that it is him and his custom kunai is here to prove it." She then hands him a kunai that is different from the usual kunai. It is definitely lighter and thinner and it is dark brown in color.

"How does this kunai prove it?" The Kazekage asks.

"I recognized that kunai twelve years ago. It is still the same." She tells the Kazekage.

"Wait," The Kazekage looks at her in the eyes, "You mean you know this man?"

She hesitated, "Hai. He is an old friend of mine from Konoha. He was quite good with his shadow clone techniques during that time so I had no doubt that he is the one. This only proves it."

The Kazekage raises himself from his seat, standing next to the woman and wraps one of his hands on her shoulder. Although this is a friendly gesture, he is also trying to be close to the most attractive kunoichi in the sand village.

Himura looks at the hand on her shoulder and hides her disgust. "You are going to tell me everything you know about this 'friend' of yours."

"Kazekage-sama, I can't do that. He was my best friend and..."

"He WAS!" The Kazekage said, raising his voice, "He was your friend but not anymore. He is now your enemy and your loyalties to the village come first. Now come, we have lots to discuss."

The Kazekage then leads her out of his room. Himura knew that she is on for a long night and she is going to have to avoid getting drunk or else the Kazekage is going to have his way with her.

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Sakura is giggling softly as her uncle is getting yelled at from her mum for first, coming home late and spending all his money on food. At first, she thought someone robbed him but he is a ninja so she took that thought away. Now her uncle is begging for mercy from her mom.

"I'm going to bed mom!" Sakura yells to her mom as she makes her way up the stairs. She heard no reply and continues on. She walks into the bedroom and brushes her teeth which took about a minute. She then looked at her teeth and is so white it could actually shine.

She walks to her room and changes her outfit to her night gown. She is so tired that when she landed on the bed, she almost fell asleep instantly. She just remembered pulling the blanket up and thinking of a blonde boy.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter... Please Review!!!! haha.. It is getting difficult to add some fluff for naruto and sakura as i have to continue with the story but i will the best i can. **


	8. Team Bonding

**hei, here is the update. I want to clear something with one of my reviewer. He says the hokage has full power and can make naruto and sakura team since he can do whatever he wants. although this is true, note that this is what MAKI wants. The hokage is the leader of the village and is responsible of the lives of the villagers and ninjas. He wouldnt want a team to die since that team is too weak.**

**So, hope i cleared that. So, hope you enjoy this chapter and review.**

CHAPTER 8: TEAM BONDING

In a bright sunny morning, a few miles away from the village of Konoha, four ninjas are assigned to cleaning the property of a large farm. The farm is a mess, with the waste products of animals scattered here and there, large amount of leaves are on the ground and the garbage looks like as if it has not been cleaned for months.

Team seven have been assigned to clean this whole mess since the owner requested help from the Hokage. The pay is twice the normal D-rank mission due to the large size of the farm. The only ninja that is not working among the four of them is the Jounin. The pink haired Jounin is resting under a tree, sitting on the ground with his back against the bark of the tree. All that he is doing is just observing his students working hard and every few minutes, checking and cleaning his custom kunai.

Naruto is in charge of cleaning of cleaning the garbage and disposing trash that are scattered around. Ino has to rake the leaves and gather them into a pile where she will burn them once they are all collected and as for Sasuke, he has taken the job to sweep the dung of the animals. They got this mission at eight in the morning and they are about finished and the time is now eleven fifteen.

Of course, all three Genins actually complained when they received this mission but they complained it behind the Hokage's back. Even right now they have their mouth shut since their client can and will complain to the Hokage should they complain about their mission. They finished their tasks at eleven twenty five and Maki informed their client that their job is done.

Now, team seven is making their way back to the village. All three of the Genins are dirty and exhausted. Naruto is dragging his feet while he is walking and Ino is leaning slightly as she walks. Sasuke is walking like normal but he is breathing quite hard.

"Damn it," Naruto said in frustration, "I did not become a ninja to do all these kind of jobs!"

Maki rolled his eyes. 'Here we go the complaining starts.' Maki thought.

"I mean, when the heck will be able to do missions like fighting bandits or other ninjas?!" Naruto said, looking at his Jounin instructor.

"Yeah, Maki-sensei," Ino said, agreeing with Naruto, "I mean, how come we have to do all these kind of things? How come my dad gets to go to other countries and fight foreign ninjas?"

"Your father can do all that is because he is a Jounin and an experienced ninja." Maki explains.

"We will never gain experience if we continue doing all this kind of things." Sasuke said.

"Look, I used to do these kinds of missions before the war started so quit complaining. You just have to do about another eight D-rank missions before we get a C-rank mission. You just have to be patient until the Hokage thinks that you are ready." Maki said, ending the conversation.

All three of the Genins groaned loudly. Throughout the whole journey, Naruto continues complaining but gets no response from Maki. Ino did complain with Naruto but when she noticed that Sasuke did not, she stopped.

They finally reached the gigantic green gates of Konoha. When they walked into the gates, two Chuunin ninjas blocked their paths. One is a man with black hair and has some kind of bandage across the bridge of his nose and the other is a ninja with brown hair and the front of his hair passes his eyes. The two are wearing their Chuunin vests.

"State your name and purpose." The black haired man ordered Maki since he is the team leader.

"Kotetsu-san, do you really have to take your jobs so seriously?" Maki said with a small smile.

"Sorry, but orders are orders. I wouldn't want to be on the bad side of the Hokage." Kotetsu replied.

"Fine. Team seven lead by Haruno Maki with my students Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino and Uchiha Sasuke to report back to the Hokage." Maki answered.

The brown haired man, known as Izumo nodded and the two Chuunins moved out of their way to pass. Maki thanked the two Chuunins and started to make their way to the Hokage tower.

"Why don't you three go and rest up? Take a shower and get cleaned up. I will report back to the Hokage but I we are to meet up near the hot springs in an hour from now." Maki suggested.

"Why?" Naruto and Ino asked at the same time.

"I have something planned for our team." Maki explained and he disappeared in a puff of smoke just like that.

Sasuke grunted and started to make his way home with Ino following him. Naruto watched his two team mates walk down the busy streets and Naruto decided to make his way for his apartment to wash up. He remembers that he has a lunch date with Sakura at twelve and it is already eleven fifty in the morning.

Naruto jumps up on a rooftop and starts to chakra sprint to his apartment. He got a few villagers shout at him from below for using the rooftops but he ignored it. It is not like they can do anything. He reached his apartment in a minute and the moment he entered his window, he quickly undressed himself, took a towel and ran into his bathroom.

He took a quick shower to wash himself clean from the mission earlier and also to freshen himself up. After five minutes, he got out of the shower and drying himself quickly. He opened one of his drawers and took out a black long sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans. After that, he quickly jumped out of his window to make his way to Ichiraku Ramen.

He arrived at Ichiraku Ramen at twelve three in the afternoon and found Sakura there already, wearing a pink blouse with a black skirt that reached up to her knees. She tied her hair in a pony tail with a red ribbon. She felt Naruto's presence and turned to face him with a smile on her face.

"Good to see that you, Naruto-kun." Sakura greeted.

"Good to see you too, Sakura-chan. Have you waited long?" He asks, taking a seat on a stool next to her.

She shook her head, "No, I just arrived actually. But what about you? You rarely come late to our luncheons."

"Sorry Sakura-chan, I had a mission and I just finished eat about thirty minutes ago so I had to clean up." Naruto gave his excuse.

Sakura however did not listen to her crush's excuse. She was looking at his face and how he is so neatly dressed and how handsome it makes him. She sighed dreamily.

'He is so handsome..' She thinks dreamily.

'**Yeah, I can't disagree with you there. If only we can consider this as a date.'** Inner Sakura said.

'It is a date. The two of us agreed to eat together so it is a date.' Sakura replied.

'**I mean a date such as boyfriend and girlfriend?' **Inner Sakura said.

Sakura blushed at the thought. As much as she liked to call herself Naruto's girlfriend, they have to agree to that first. She does not know of Naruto's feelings towards her. They are best friends now and she has no intentions to ruin it by confessing her feelings. She is quite happy with the two of them being best friends and if this is the closest she can get to him, then so be it.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asks, touching her forehead, "Your face is red. Are you sick?"

Sakura blushed even more. She is lucky that Naruto is sometimes a blockhead when it comes to girls. "That-that is nothing Naruto. I, err, I am just hungry, that's all."

Naruto looked at her eyes intently. He looks at her green eyes and finally shrugged it off, buying Sakura's excuse. He then orders the two of them large miso pork Ramen. The old man then disappears to the back of the restaurant to prepare the meal.

"So, Sakura-chan. Have you been enjoying your missions?" He asks Sakura.

"I won't really say that I am enjoying it but it's not like we have much of a choice." Sakura replies, looking at him.

"Yeah. I don't see why we have to do all these boring missions. I want some action!"

Sakura scoffs, "And when you do get that kind of mission, you better not go charge into the enemy. You have to be more careful."

Naruto scratches his head and laughs, "That is mean, Sakura-chan."

"I am mean because I am worried about you. You are my best friend and I don't want anything to happen to you." She responds.

The two then stopped their conversation as their meals are served. Sakura and Naruto picks the wooden chopstick, snaps it into two and starts eating their Ramen. Naruto finished eating his meal in just three minutes and is already ordering his second bowl. Sakura can never figure out how he can eat so fast. After fifteen minutes, Naruto has finished about seven bouls while Sakura only managed to eat two bowls. Naruto paid for their meal and the two walked out of the Ramen stand.

"So, what do you want to do now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asks as they walk in the busy streets of Konoha.

"I don't know. I don't have any missions today so why don't you choose?" Sakura replies.

"Well, actually..." Naruto never finished his sentence when he saw the time on Sakura-s watch. It reads twelve thirty three.

"Oh man, I am supposed to meet Maki-sensei at twelve thirty at the hot springs!" Naruto says in panic, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan but I really have to go."

Naruto quickly starts to run when somebody grabbed his wrist, preventing him from going anywhere. He looks at his wrist and realizes that Sakura is holding him, preventing him from going. He looks at her confused and is about to ask what she is doing when he felt something warm on his cheeks.

Sakura gave a peck on his cheeks, smiling at him. She pulled back and is blushing lightly. As for Naruto, he is as red as a tomato and could not even utter a word.

"Thank you for the lunch, Naruto-kun." She thanks him and then walks in the opposite direction.

Naruto stood there, not moving. He took him a few seconds to realize where he is. Realizing that he is late, he quickly jumps on the rooftop and starts to make his way to the meeting point of his team.

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A black haired boy and a blonde haired girl are waiting impatiently for their two remaining team members to arrive at the meeting place. They understand that Naruto is a person that is not so responsible but for a Jounin to be late, that is something that cannot be forgiven. Sasuke of course, has no expression on his face but Ino is definitely getting pissed by the second.

The two then felt a familiar presence nearing them. Then, a figure emerged right in front of them, panting for air in front of them. The boy is dressed in his casual clothes with his messy blonde hair. The boy then looks at his two team mates and then looks left and right, unable to find instructor.

"Where's Maki-sensei?" Naruto asks, still looking for him.

Before Ino could answer, a voice is heard, "Sorry I'm late."

The three of them look for the voice and is found that the person is above them, on a tree branch. The man is still wearing his usual ninja attire but his long dark pink hair is tied into a pony tail. Maki jumps down from the tree branch, right in front of his three students.

"So, I see that we're all ready?" Maki asks, looking from Sasuke to Ino to Naruto.

"Hai!" Naruto and Ino answer together while Sasuke merely grunted.

"Alright then, we're going there now." Maki then starts walking to his right, gesturing his students to follow him.

They had to run for a while to catch up with him. "Sensei, just where the heck are we going anyway?" Ino asks.

Maki smirked, "We are going to have a team picture."

"A team picture?" Naruto repeats.

Maki nodded, "Yes. I never had a team picture when I took a small Genin team five years ago. I plan to take one this time. For me, it is to remind me of my team and as for you guys, it can be used to remember when we are a team."

"What do you mean? You mean we won't be a team forever?" Naruto asks with a surprised tone.

Maki nodded once more, "Once all three of you reaches Chuunin level, team seven will be disbanded and you will all no longer be under me. You will probably lead a team where you are responsible of the lives that are under you. Of course, there will be certain missions where we will be reunited but that are a rare occasion."

The four of them continued on walking to wherever that Maki is leading them. They had to pass by the market area where it is filled with villagers that are trying to bargain for their goods. This is common practice among them, always trying to get a reasonable price.

They finally reached a small building. They entered it and found that it is a shop for taking photos. The shop is used to take photos of families, friends and their purpose here, for ninjas. They could see that on one of the pictures displayed is a picture of the third Hokage when he is young with his three students, now known as the legendary Sannin.

"Ah, welcome. What can I do for you?" The shop owner asks Maki, a bald man with a moustache wearing spectacles.

"I would like to have a picture with my students here." Maki tells the man.

"Ah, this must be your students I assume. Ninjas like you with kids tell me that you are the teacher. The son of the Hokage came here yesterday for a picture with his team." The man replies.

"Alright. So, how much will one picture cost?" Maki asks the man, taking out his wallet.

"One picture will cost about two hundred and fifty ryou." The man informs Maki.

Maki takes out the amount that he has been told and paid the man. The man collects the money and places it in his register. "Alright, now follow me to the back where I will take your picture."

Maki and his three students followed the man to the back of the room where they can see a camera stand and the background looks like a training ground. Maki looks at the background, wondering why it is a training ground and then gives a look to the shop owner that demands an answer.

The man smiles, "Since you are the teacher and your team, this specific background is training ground number one. The background is perfect as if your team just passed and took a picture at the training ground."

Maki shrugs, "Well, you are the professional so I guess that makes sense. Let's just get the picture taken now."

Maki then orders his team to follow him. They stand in front of the camera and the shop owner starts instructing them on their positions for their picture. Maki is to stand at the centre, Sasuke on the right of Maki, Naruto on Maki's left and Ino between the two boys. The owner then tells Maki to kneel so that his face is slightly above Ino's head and between the heads of Sasuke and Naruto.

"Pefect." The owner says and starts to get ready to take the picture, looking through the camera hole.

Maki then places his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulder. Naruto and Surprisingly Sasuke give a small smile while Ino gives a big smile. The camera then gives a bright flash of white light which blinded everyone of team seven.

"Alright, that is all. Now, if you can just wait about five to ten minutes, I will give all four of you a picture of your team."

"Alright. Me and my students will be at the front of your shop." Maki and the three Genins then walk out of the back room and make their way to the front of the shop, waiting patiently.

Ino as usual, is trying once again for Sasuke to say something. She has improved as Sasuke does at least give short answers such as a yes or a no compared to the grunts he would normally give. Maki sighs. His team still needs improvement in their lack of communication. Naruto is okay with Ino and sometimes he can talk to Sasuke if Sasuke either asks him a question or insults him.

Suddenly, a figure appeared right in front of them. Maki recognize the chakra and walked up to meet him while his three students stand behind him, looking at the stranger suspiciously. He has silver hair and is wearing a mask. Naruto recognized the man but kept his mouth shut.

"Kakashi, what can I do for you?" Maki asks the silver haired man.

"Maki, I see you have taken a picture with your team?" Kakashi says, ignoring Maki's question.

"Yeah, this can at least form a bond with everyone, you know?" He tells the perverted Jounin.

"Yeah, I understand. I have a picture of my team. It reminds me of my past mistakes. The death of Obito, Rin goes missing and the death of my teacher. I will not let a comrade die when they are under me."

"Yeah," Maki know the story of how Kakashi got his Sharingan. It is a tragic story and it changed the silver haired man a lot.

"But I doubt you came here to talk about all of this?" Maki says to Kakashi.

Kakashi gave a smirk under his mask, "You always get to the point, Maki. I have just come back from my mission and have come to start training the young Uchiha."

Maki nodded, "Well, he still has not unlocked the Sharingan but perhaps you can teach him that."

"Wait," Sasuke said, stepping next to Maki, "You know of the Sharingan?" He asks Kakashi.

Kakashi looks down at the young Uchiha, "Indeed I know of the Sharingan. Hokage-sama has given me the permission to train you personally when you are not under a mission to train your skills and also, the arts of the Sharingan."

Sasuke looks at his pink-haired teacher and then at the silver haired man. He could not believe that this man, who is not an Uchiha, can know of his family's eye. How can that be? Only an Uchiha can train an Uchiha, so how is an outsider like this man be able to train him?

"Alright Sasuke," Maki said, "You have to go with Kakashi now for your training."

Sasuke reluctantly agreed and walked to Kakashi, standing next to him. Kakashi then took out his famous orange book and starts reading it. Ino recognized the book and popped out a vein, unable to believe that a pervert is going to be training her crush. Kakashi and Maki felt the killer intent coming out of the blonde girl and realized that Kakashi had better get going.

"Alright, I will see you later." Kakashi said, and then grabs a hold on Sasuke and disappears in a puff of smoke. Maki immediately sighed in relief as the killer intent starts to drop.

"Here you go." A voice said and the three remaining members of team seven turned to the source of the voice. It is the shop owner and he is carrying four pictures of the picture taken with frames.

He hands the framed picture to all three of the team members of team seven. The shop owner is still carrying an extra picture and looks around for the remaining member but could not find him.

"He left. Just give it to me and I will hand it to him." Maki said to the shop owner. The owner smiles and hands the extra one to the pink haired Jounin. Maki thanks the main and tells his students to follow him.

When they have travelled a distance away from the shop, Maki stops and turns to face his students. "Alright, you have the rest of the day off. Well, actually for Ino. Naruto, you have a training session with Sakura in an hour about now."

Naruto groaned loudly but agreed. Ino giggles at Naruto's discomfort and then left her team. Naruto also starts to make his way back to his apartment. Maki also makes his way back to his house, hoping to rest before he has to supervise Naruto and Sakura's training.

He reached his house about ten minutes later. He unlocked the door and then turned the knob, opening the door. He then opened his ninja's sandals and then starts to make his way inside his house. He could not find Suyuki anywhere but finds his niece in the living room, reading a romance novel.

Sakura has a lot of romance novels in her room and Maki can never tell how she is able to finish reading all those books and at the same, not get bored of the books. The books have almost the same story, or at least, that is what he thinks. However, even though Sakura is reading the book intently, he could tell that Sakura is troubled. He sighed heavily, took a seat on the couch and faces Sakura.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He asks his niece.

Sakura closes the book and looks at her uncle, "Is it really that obvious?"

Maki chuckled, "Only to those that have lived with you for a long time. Now tell me, what is troubling you?"

She sighs, "I did something terrible that could jeopardize my friendship with Naruto-kun."

Now Maki has full attention, "Why? What did you do?"

Sakura did not answer and looks at her uncle in the eyes. She could see that his eyes are demanding answers, "I... I ki-kissed him on the cheek... just now."

Maki narrowed his eyes, looking at her with even more confusion. "So, you kissed him. How does that jeopardize your friendship with him?"

Sakura did not answer. Maki then sighed, "You were trying to take your friendship to the next level. Is that it?"

That shocked Sakura. She looked at her uncle, wondering how he knew that.

"How did you know?"

Maki puts a hand on her shoulder, "I once gone through something similar like you, although mine did not end in a happy ending. The girl that I loved never returned the love I gave her because the guy that she loved, loved her back."

"So, are you trying to say I don't stand a chance?" She asks her uncle, tears forming in her eyes.

Maki shook his head, "No, I am trying to say you have a better chance. The girl that I loved had a guy that loved her back. But you, the one you love, Naruto, does not have anyone yet that has captured his heart."

Of course, Maki know someone that has captured Naruto's heart and it is the girl that is right in front of him. The problem with this two is that they are not expressing their feelings to one another. He will make sure that they do not suffer like he did.

"That is why Sakura," Maki continues, "That you must show him that you want more than a friendship, Sakura."

"But what if he doesn't want more than that?" Sakura said, looking away.

Maki sighs and gets up from the couch, "I cannot help you more than that Sakura. Sometimes, you have to take the first step and the first step is always the hardest."

Maki then starts making his way to the backyard to train while waiting for the time to supervise Sakura and Naruto's training. Before he leaves the living room, he turns to face Sakura, "And don't worry Sakura. I will help you with him, anything you might need help to know about Naruto, I will be there."

Maki then leaves, leaving Sakura alone with her thoughts. 'How did uncle Maki know of my true feelings for Naruto-kun?' She thought to herself.

**'Didn't you hear him? He said he went through the same love trouble. Man, I wonder what his problem was.' **Inner Sakura says, thinking.

'You know it is not nice to know of people's personal lives right? And why does uncle Maki want to help me with Naruto-kun?' Sakura asks her inner.

**'Don't ask me. And here I thought we know everything of our uncle when we actually know so little about him.' **Inner Sakura said.

Sakura looked at the time and it says it is two forty five. She still has about fifteen minutes before they have to leave for training. She walks up to her bedroom and starts to change her outfit and also putting her romance novel back at the book shelf, along with her other romance novels. When she is done changing her clothes, she took her headband and tied it on her head instead of her forehead, allowing her bangs to fall on the sides of her face. Since it is just training, she decides to let her hair loose.

She then walks down the stairs and finds that her uncle is already waiting for her downstairs. Maki took a quick glance at her and without a word, starts to make his way for the door with Sakura following behind him. The two wear their ninja sandals and then walks out of the house. It is precisely three in the afternoon and Naruto is probably waiting for them already.

"Alright, we are going to use a shortcut." Maki said, forming a seal.

"Shortcut?" Sakura looked at her uncle, confused.

"Just hold on to me and don't let go." He tells his niece in which she followed his orders.

Maki performs the technique and the two suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke.

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At training ground number one, Naruto is pacing around a tree, waiting for his friend and his instructor. He is normally the one that comes late for practice and today, he is the one that is early and Sakura and Maki are late. He is already sweating since he is wearing his usual black shirt and so it is absorbing heat more.

He wiped his sweat away as they are starting to irritate his eyes. The sun is really starting to annoy him but he cannot do anything about it. He is about to create a shadow clone to find Maki and Sakura just in case they forgot that they have training today when suddenly, Maki and Sakura appeared right in front of him in a puff of smoke.

"What took you guys so long?" Naruto asks annoyed.

"Apologies then. Now, let's get started." Maki said.

Sakura walks next to Naruto, smiling at him. He of course, returned the smile and paid their attention on the Jounin right in front of them. Maki is currently scratching his head, trying to think of what kind of training to do.

"Alright, why don't you two start doing warm up exercise while I think of something to improve the two of you?" Maki stated.

The two Genins nodded and started doing their respective warm ups. Naruto decided to increase his muscles in his hands so he decides doing chin ups using the tree branch while Sakura, with low stamina, runs around the training ground. Maki sat below a tree, thinking of what to do with them.

While Sakura is jogging around, Naruto did take quick glances on Sakura, admiring her beauty. Her hair being blown back by the wind as she is running, her green emerald eyes filled with determination. Despite being in a situation where he has to carry himself repeatedly, he could not help but smile as he watches his crush.

Sakura felt someone watching her and she looked at her uncle only to find him still deep in thought. She then looked at her blonde haired crush who is still doing his chin ups but is looking at her with his ocean blue eyes. 'Is he looking at me?' Sakura thought.

Naruto realized that she is looking at him and he quickly looks away, feeling the heat rush up to his face. He gulped and hoped that she did not notice that he was looking at her. As for Sakura, she felt flattered that her crush was actually looking at her and smiled at the thought. She is now filled with even more energy to continue her exercise.

"Alright, I think you guys have enough of the warm ups." Maki said suddenly, raising himself and walking towards Naruto.

Sakura had to run back to where Naruto and Maki are. When she reached them, she could see that Naruto still has a small blush and she couldn't help but giggle which caused Naruto to even blush more and start to sweat. Maki could see this but had no reactions, although deep inside, he is happy for them.

"Now, I want the two of you to do the tree exercise again." Maki tells his two students.

Naruto frowned, "Again? We did that like three days ago and me and Sakura-chan can already run up a tree without falling. Why do we have to do this again?"

Maki grinned, "So I assume the two of you have not realized it yet?"

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, confused. Sakura then looks at her uncle, "What do you mean?"

"So you have not realized it. You see, this tree exercise has improved the two of you in your own weakness. Naruto, you may not have realized it but since you have improved in your chakra control, you can now summon more clones with less amount of chakra."

Naruto looked surprise, "How come?"

"Because your chakra control has improved. If your chakra control sucks, you can only create a small amount of shadow clones but now that your chakra control is good, you can create a lot more with a low amount. This rule is the same to other ninja techniques. For example, if two ninjas fight and use the same technique against another, the person that has the better chakra control will win because their techniques will be more devastating and also conserve more chakra."

Naruto nodded his head in awe, unable to believe this new piece of information. He runs of f to a tree and starts running up the bark of the tree. "How does this help me?" Sakura asks.

Maki smiled at his niece, "Well Sakura, your chakra control is already at the top so this training exercise is also quite pointless. However, you have a low amount of chakra and this exercise increases your chakra capacity. Unfortunately for you, it only increases in a small amount but it should help you."

Sakura nodded and then runs up on a different tree filled with determination. She knew she has low amount of chakra and always wanted to increase her capacity. This exercise will definitely be good for her and if she continues to do this everyday for a month, she should be able to increase her capacity by a quarter of her full amount right now.

Maki watched his two students running up and down the tree. He then walked to a boulder and sat there, until he noticed something. The boulder is next to a tree and that tree has a large hole on the bark. He slowly approached the tree and found the mark that he is looking for. 'So this is the very place eh?' He thought. He remembers this is the boulder where he was once knocked out in a fight.

Flashback

Training ground number one. A boy with pink hair, wearing a blue long sleeve shirt with brown sweatpants is talking to a brown haired girl. The girl is attractive and can be seen to be at the same age as the boy. She is wearing a white blouse which reveals her flat stomach and a skirt with black boots.

"Please Himura-chan. Just one date, please!" Maki begged his crush. He know that Himura and Kawada are dating but he just wants one chance to try and change her heart. Just one.

"I already said, Maki-kun, I am dating Kawada-kun. I don't want him getting the wrong idea and besides, I have already told you countless times, I only want to be friends with you." She says to her pink haired friend, hoping he will stop his begging.

"I know Himura-chan but just go out with me one time. After that, I will stop bugging you for dates."

Himura sighs, "Maki-kun, I am telling you once more, no. Now, will you go before Kawada-kun gets here? He isn't very fond of you and trust me, if he finds you here asking me for a date, he will beat you up."

Maki scoffs, "As if! He can't do anything to me."

Suddenly to Maki's shock, Himura slaps him hard on his right cheek. It is so hard that the slap scared the birds nearby and flew off and it left a hand mark on Maki's cheek. Maki winced in pain as he tried to touch it and he looked at Himura, who has the same shocked face.

"I didn't do it, I..." She tries to apologize but Maki stopped her with his hand.

"Don't apologize, Himura-chan." He tells her, looking at someone behind her, "Kawada, it's not very nice to use the shadow mimic technique to control your girlfriend and slap me."

Kawada emerged from the bushes, smirking. He is indeed what every girl would want. He is good looking, his hair makes him look cool and he has the respect since he comes from a ninja clan and he is a freaking genius. He is wearing a tank top with a jacket to cover it with his usual blue jeans.

"Then you should know it is not nice to ask a girl who is already taken for a date." Kawada spat.

"Okay, you know what? Why don't we make a deal. If I win you in a fight, I get a date with Himura-chan but if you win, I will never ask her for a date, ever again." Maki suggested, challenging the top ninja of their age group.

Kawada raised an eyebrow, "Is that a joke? Because that is the funniest one I have heard this year. A mere pink haired ninja, not from a ninja clan at all, is challenging the great Kawada of the Nara clan to a fight?"

"You got that right, Nara. Or are you afraid?" He said to Kawada as he took out a kunai.

Kawada shakes his head, "You are making a grave mistake."

Himura, not wanting a fight between her boyfriend and her best friend tugs Kawada's arm, "Kawada-kun, you don't have to do this."

Kawada kisses Himura on the cheek to calm her down but also to insult Maki, "Don't worry, I will make this fast."

Just like that, he ran to Maki, catching the pink haired Genin by surprise. Maki jumps back in a defensive stance and Kawada quickly throw a shuriken. Maki is able to block it with his kunai but he did not see Kawada coming right at him. His eyes popped up large by surprise and try to attack, only to find Kawada reach him before he can do anything.

Kawada grabs his arm wielding the kunai and twists his wrist, breaking it and Maki screams in pain. Kawada makes sure that he did not break it too hard so that Maki's wrist can still be corrected. Maki drops his kunai and finds his gut being punched hard, causing him to lose all his air from his lungs.

Kawada then jumps back by placing his two legs on Maki's chest and uses it to jump back, causing Maki to drop to the ground hard. Maki coughed out blood and tries to get up only to fall back. Kawada sighs and catches Maki in the shadow mimic technique.

"Now Maki, I am going to do this to tell you to never bother Himura ever again." Kawada said to Maki with a stern voice.

Kawada grabs a kunai from his back pouch, which Maki did the same. He then walks forward with Maki doing the same thing until Maki reached a tree with a boulder next to it. With the kunai in hand, Kawada starts to move his arm, as if he is writing something in the air while Maki is carving something on the tree, following Kawada's actions. Maki had tears flowing down his cheek as he is realizing what he is writing for Kawada.

Kawada smiled on Maki's discomfort. There, on the tree is a heart shape with the writings 'Kawada loves Himura' inside the heart. Himura clutches her heart, from the romantic side of Kawada but also from the pain she is watching her friend suffer.

"And Maki, this is for disturbing Himura after all this time." Kawada said and walks to his left.

Maki approaches the boulder and his eyes popped up large in horror on what Kawada is planning. He is actually trembling in fear, sweat pouring down his forehead. He never wanted to be knocked on the head like this.

"Kawada, don't do this!" Himura screeched, running to Kawada but is too late.

Kawada bows to absolutely no one and with Maki following, hits his head on the boulder hard. Blood can be seen upon impact pouring down his eyes, mixing with his sweat. Kawada releases the shadow mimic technique and sees the pink haired ninja fall on his back, losing consciousness.

Himura looked at her friend in horror, at the blood on his forehead. She wanted to run to him but she could not. This is also her fault. If she had just accepted the date, he would not have to suffer like this. She felt strong arms wrap around her shoulder to find Kawada smiling at her, trying to assure her everything is alright.

"Don't worry, Himura. He will be okay. We will go to the hospital and get a medic to help him. Now, how about I buy you dinner?" Kawada said to Himura.

The moment she heard dinner, she forgot everything about Maki. It is like as if this incident never happened as she rests her head on his Kawada's firm shoulder. Maki looked at the loving couple as he feels the red liquid enters his mouth. He closed his eyes and finally lost consciousness.

End of Flashback

Maki touched the markings on the tree. He remembered the pain in his heart as he carved the writings and the heart shape. He sighs at the memory and slams his fist on the tree, giving a big crack on the bark. His fists are already bleeding slightly but he ignored the pain. He release his fist from the bark and using the small knowledge he has on healing, starts healing his injured fist.

Since he has very little knowledge and experience, he used up quite a large amount of chakra and time. Your chakra control has to be very good to be a medic and his chakra control does not reach up to that expectation. He then sat on the boulder, watching his two students that he has been training for two years run up the tree repeatedly.

He watched them for an hour when he realized that the training session has already come to an end. He called the two of them to him and they obeyed.

"Alright, today's training session is over. We won't be having training tomorrow since my team and Sakura's team have a mission so to make up for that, how about I treat you two to Ramen?" He said to the two of them, giving a smile.

Before they could say anything, Maki continued, "Then again, I remember I have to meet with the Hokage with something so..." Maki took out his wallet and then gave Naruto a certain amount of money.

"Naruto, I want you to take Sakura and treat her for the Ramen. Now, treat her well or you will face my wrath!" He said to him with a stern voice which actually scared Naruto.

"Now, get going." He told Naruto and Naruto obeyed, grabbing Sakura's wrist and starts to make his way out of the training ground.

Maki of course, has nothing to do with the Hokage. He decided that this could be a date to them and with a smile on his face, leaves the training ground. His stomach is also asking for food so perhaps Suyuki could get him dinner a little early. He hoped that Suyuki is in a good mood or he will be receiving a lecture for not waiting for Sakura to get home for dinner rather than a meal.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto opened the door of his apartment with a huge smile on his face. He knew that Maki purposely left him and Sakura alone so that he can go on sort of date with Sakura. After all, Maki is on his side to confess his love to Sakura although he isn't planning to tell his feelings to her yet. He will know when the time is right.

It is already eight at night and they actually spent three hours at the Ramen stand eating and talking with each other. They laughed as they talk about stupid things they did at the academy. For once, he is actually too full to eat an instant Ramen right now and decides to turn in early today.

Taking off his black shirt and tossing it into the laundry bag, he makes his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He can't have Sakura smelling his bad breath now. He has to stay clean. He has heard from Maki that she is a clean freak and he is going to have to stay clean to remain on her good side.

Once he is done, he makes his way to his bedroom and switches off the light. He can't believe that he is so tired that when he closed his eyes, he immediately drifted off to sleep, not even having time to wish Sakura sweet dreams in his heart.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Did you really have to force him to take me on a date?" Sakura asked her uncle, furious. She wanted Naruto to ask her on a date willingly, not set up like that.

Maki smirked, "Look Sakura, if I forced him, he wouldn't have accepted the money. You know how stubborn he can be. So he did it willingly. Besides, you said it yourself that you enjoyed dinner with him and you can see that he enjoyed himself too."

"That is true but.."

"Look Sakura," Maki interrupted her, "If he really did not want to be a boyfriend to you, he would not have taken you out today for fear of you thinking it as a date. Just give him time and he will maybe one day realise his feelings for you."

"I guess you're right. You always have been anyway." She said, yawning.

Maki smiled and starts to yawn himself, "Alright, now let's get to bed. We have a big day tomorrow."

Sakura nodded tiredly and the two ninjas make their way to their own rooms. He wished Sakura goodnight before he closed his door. He starts to take off his shirt and wears a white tank top while he changes his black ninja pants for a pair of brown boxers.

He laid his head on his pillow and looked outside the window. He thought of his fight with Kawada all those years ago at the training ground. He may have lost that fight, but he can never forget that fight at the Chuunin exams. Before he could even think about it, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the good times he had with that brown haired girl.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Those who favourite this story or story alert, at least leave a review, hehe. I appreciate that you like this story but i need to know it in words. Haha =p**


	9. A C rank Mission

**Hei, here is the new update. Now, to those of you that is hoping that team 7 faces the mission to the waves and face Zabuza, i apologise because I felt that most stories do that so i decided to make a new mission and show Maki's abilities in this mission and how Naruto and Sasuke will perform.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and please, REVIEW.**

CHAPTER 9: A C-RANK MISSION

It is finally time for the sun to rise and bring back light to the earth. The village of Konoha is the first village of the great five to shine and awake it's villagers to get up. The ninjas also have to wake up as early as them to perform their daily tasks or to take up on new missions.

The Hokage wished that ninjas taking up missions would take up more time since it is the only time when he can escape the paperwork. He wishes he can step down from being Hokage. There are some candidates that can be the Hokage, two of them are his students but sadly they are away from the village and the other two are the two top Jounin in the village but both will definitely refuse it the position is offered since one is busy reading his book while the other has to take care of his family.

In an apartment, the sunlight enters the room of Naruto, waking him up from his slumber. He blinked his eyes a few times and sat up on his bed, still rubbing his eyes as he throws the blanket off of him. He looks at his new alarm clock and it shows that it is already seven thirty in the morning. He has to meet up with his team at the hot spring in a half an hour.

Making his way to the bathroom with a towel on his shoulder, he has to resist the urge of just going back to bed. He closes the bathroom door behind him and starts to undress himself. He puts his towel in the basin and walks into the shower. He then turns a knob that allows the hot water to pour down on his body. The feeling of warmth on his body brought great relief to him as he groans in relief.

He enjoyed the hot water so much that he actually spends about eleven minutes in the shower. Now that he is fully awake, he quickly finishes his shower and then turns off the water. He dries himself and his hair quickly. He walks to the basin and brushes his teeth.

When he walked out of the bathroom feeling clean and refresh, he looked at the clock in the kitchen. It is already three quarters past seven and he has to hurry up or he will be late. He opens his drawer and decides to wear a different set of clothing. He chooses a white shirt to wear and black shorts, the same length as Sasuke's pants. He ties his headband on his forehead, looking at himself in the mirror proudly.

He looks at the framed picture next to his bed. The picture taken yesterday with his team. Maki, their leader in the centre with Sasuke and him on his sides and Ino between the boys. Naruto smiles at the picture and then puts the picture back on the night stand.

He locks his front door and then goes to the balcony and jumps off, going to the hot springs. The hot springs is at the end of the village and since his apartment is at the centre, it is quite far. At least he does not live on the other end of the village. If not, he is never going to make it.

He reach the hot spring at precisely eight and finds that everyone is there waiting for him. He lands next to Ino and greeted everyone in his team a good morning. They all returned it, even the emotionless Uchiha.

Maki looks at all three of them, "Alright, it looks like everyone is here so I guess we can get going now."

Maki then starts to make his way to the Hokage tower with the three Genins to team seven following him. As team seven meets almost everyday now, Ino is already starting to give up on trying talking with the Uchiha. He just never responds much no matter how much she tries and even if he does, the response is just too short. Sasuke only seems interested in training and Ino is starting to wonder if he is even interested in the opposite sex.

She has grown closer to the blonde boy. Although sometimes he can be annoying, he is much more fun to be with. He can always make the team laugh with his jokes and even their Jounin leader has an interest in his jokes.

They reach the Hokage but instead of going to the Hokage's room, they have to go to the hall where they collect missions. Iruka will also be there. He is in charge of giving the ninjas their missions and the Hokage simply has to give them the details regarding the mission. The Hokage of course, sometimes can disapprove Iruka's suggestions on the mission for the team because the team is not suited for the mission.

Team seven enters the hall just as team ten is leaving the hall. Asuma nodded his head to Maki to acknowledge his presence but has no time to stop for a little chat. The only ones that remained eye contact even when they walked out of the hall are Sakura and Naruto. The two are lost in each other's eyes, never wanting the moment to end.

Maki bows, "Hokage-sama, we are here for our mission."

The Hokage turns to his left, looking at Iruka as he starts to flip through several papers. The mission sheet is thick and Naruto wondered how the ninjas of Konoha going to be enough for each mission are. Iruka finally found the perfect mission and hands it to the Hokage. The Hokage begin reading the mission but he shook his head.

"Iruka, I think team seven is ready to take up C-rank missions."

Everyone, with the exception of Maki is surprised by the Hokage's words. Even Iruka has a shock expression on his face. He wanted to protest against the idea but if the Hokage says they are ready, they are ready then.

"Old man, you mean we can fight ninjas now?" Asks an enthusiastic Naruto.

The Hokage nodded his head, "That is correct Naruto. And show some respect Naruto, I am the Hokage and you are now a ninja."

Naruto is however not paying attention, lost in his own thoughts. The Hokage look at Maki with narrow eyes. Maki gulped, knowing he is going to be in trouble for this. Iruka finally finds the perfect mission for them and hands it to the Hokage. The Hokage reads the paper and then looks at team seven.

"Alright, this mission is perfect for you so listen carefully."

Everyone of team seven stood straight, with full attention.

The Hokage clears his throat, "Alright, the four of you are to travel to a village in the country of light. A messenger from the country of mist will be there to hand you a scroll that has a proposal to make for Konoha. You have to meet up with the messenger and collect the scroll."

"That's all?" Naruto whines.

"Look Naruto," The Hokage said, "This is an important assignment for Konoha. It is a C-rank mission because there could be bandits that might want the scroll. And oh yes, an important notice for you. The four of you have to dress up like travellers during your journey as the country of light is close to the great village of Rock. We may be in peace now but that doesn't mean they won't attack you if spotted. Don't worry though, the ninjas of Rock have no business in the country of light and this is just as a precaution."

"Why would Rock ninjas want to attack us?" Naruto asks.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow, "You do remember about the last great ninja war, do you?"

Naruto nodded his head. "Well," The Hokage continued, "The fourth Hokage has killed many ninjas of the Rock. The Rock is still furious for the deaths of their many ninjas and will continue hunting leaf ninjas when they see one. And we have no choice but to do the same."

The hall became silent upon hearing about the bad times. If it is not for the fourth Hokage, the war might have taken longer time to end it. He is one of the best ninja that Konoha has ever produced.

"Now, are there any further questions?" The Hokage asks, looking from the pink haired Jounin to all three Genins.

They all shook their head. The Hokage nodded, "Alright then, you have an hour before you depart for your mission. Remember, you guys are to be dressed as merchants or anything to conceal your identity as ninjas."

Team seven nodded and left the hall. Naruto is already pumped up for the mission, since there could be at least some fighting that he has been training for. He is going to make Maki proud of him. He can already see himself the Hokage handing him the title of Hokage with Sasuke kissing his foot and Sakura by his side.

Naruto is giggling mischievously and this did not go unnoticed by his team mates. They know that he has been complaining for almost a week for doing stupid missions like fixing a broken fence, walking the dogs and other boring tasks like that. The truth is, Sasuke and Ino feel the same but they did not complain because they knew that they will get tougher missions sooner or later.

"Alright team," Maki said while they are still walking, "We will meet up at the gates at precise nine thirty, which is still an hour from now. I want you to use the time to get your things ready for the mission and when you are finished, wait for me at the north gate. Understood?"

All of the Genins nodded their heads and dispersed. Maki then jumped on a rooftop and starts making his way to an apartment. He is surprised that Naruto's speed is fast, almost the speed of an average Chuunin. He arrived at the apartment and can hear from the outside of the door that he is packing his things. He leaned on the wall next to the door, waiting for Naruto to finish packing.

It took Naruto about twenty minutes to do so. Maki can hear Naruto approaching the door and turning the door knob. Naruto close his door and then locks it and when he looks at Maki, he yelled in surprise. Maki plugged his ears with his hands, not wanting to hear Naruto's annoying voice. He wonders what Sakura sees in him but he is not in the position to judge anyone.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto says after calming himself, "Are you a stalker or something?"

"Relax," Maki said, "I am just waiting for you to finish packing so that we can go back to my place."

"Your place? Why?"

"Well, you are going on a mission that requires you to leave the village. The walk to the village of light takes up about a day, and the requiring the scroll takes another day and heading back to Konoha is another day. So, that will become three days and don't tell me you plan to let Sakura wait three days without you saying goodbye to her, did you?" He explained, looking at Naruto in the eyes.

Naruto scratches his head, "Well, I want to but you told me that Sakura's mum don't like me and..."

"That is not a problem," Maki said interrupting Naruto, "Suyuki is off grocery shopping and she won't be back till noon since after she shops, she has a little chat with her friends at a coffee shop."

Naruto hesitated, "Well, only if you're sure."

Maki gives Naruto a thumb up, "You'll be fine now come on. Sakura has a mission too and she will be leaving soon.

Naruto and Maki then start jumping on rooftop once again but this time, Naruto is the slower one since he has to carry his back pack with him. He is bringing about five instant Ramen cups, insisting that he will have withdrawals if he does not taste Ramen in two days.

Maki also needs to pack his things for this mission. At least he can leave the two love birds alone while he packs his stuff. They reach the Haruno household ten minutes later with Maki leading the way into the house. Naruto leaves his back pack at the door step along with his ninja sandals.

"Sakura, are you home?" Maki yells to find Sakura's location.

"I'm over here, uncle Maki!" Sakura yells back which is coming from her room.

"Sakura, I have a guest here. Would you mind treating him while I pack my stuff for a mission?"

"Sure. I will be right down!"

The two males could hear footsteps walking down the stairs and Naruto nearly had a nose bleed. Sakura is wearing a pink tank top but the top is pretty short, just covering her still developing breasts. He can see a lot of her flat stomach and her pants are black tights.

"Sakura!" Maki said in a raised voice, "Don't tell me you are going on a mission like that!"

Sakura shakes her head, "Of course not! Asuma-sensei says we can do our mission after lunch so we can have the morning to do what we want. I was reading a book and this outfit is pretty comfy."

Maki could see from the corner of his eyes that Naruto is still shock. Since Naruto is still quite small and Maki is standing in front of him, Sakura still has not seen Naruto. He wondered how Naruto could take a small glance at his niece when she didn't even see him.

"Alright, now if you don't mind Sakura, I want you to treat our guest while I go and pack my things." He tells Sakura.

"Sure, uncle Maki, who is our gue..." She never finished her sentence.

The moment Maki starts to make his way up his stairs, she could see Naruto and she can see a small amount of blood dripping down his nose. Realizing that her outfit is a little too revealing, she immediate tells Naruto to turn around while she makes a quick change.

Naruto of course, just nodded. He is too stunned to know what is going on. Sakura immediately runs up the stairs, blushing madly from embarrassment and also because Naruto finds her attractive enough to actually do that. She close the door of her room and quickly pick whatever clothes she could find that is appropriate enough in her wardrobe.

She found a pink blouse and white sweat pants that should be okay. Quickly making a quick change, she is thinking why Naruto would come here with her uncle. Then, she thought of the answer.

'Damn it, is he still trying to play match making with me and Naruto?' She thought angrily to herself.

'**Hei, why are you complaining? It's good to see that uncle Maki is on our side and he is pairing us with Naruto, unlike our mum trying to pair up with Shikamaru!' **Inner Sakura said.

'Yeah, but I want Naruto to approach me without uncle Maki helping.' Sakura replied to her inner.

'**Look, just be happy that Naruto is down there and we get to spend time with him, alright?' **Inner Sakura said.

She shut off the connection between her inner and herself and starts to make her way down. She ties her hair in a pony tail. She finds Naruto on the living room couch, helping himself with peanuts that he found on the table. The nuts are used for guests and since he is a guest, there is nothing wrong with that.

"So Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?" Sakura said when she reached behind Naruto.

Naruto jumped slightly in surprise, turning to face Sakura, "Sakura-chan, you got me by surprise!"

She smirked, "A ninja has to be alert at all times, Naruto-kun."

Sakura took her seat next to Naruto on the couch, facing him. Naruto is suddenly feeling nervous, "Well, yeah, but I was enjoying the peanuts and..."

"I'm just joking you know?"

Naruto chuckled, "Sorry."

"So, what brings you here anyway?"

Naruto sighs heavily, "Well, I am going on a mission that requires me to leave the village with my team. It should take about three days when I can return so Maki-sensei said it is best that I at least say goodbye to you before I leave."

Sakura is surprised, "How come? No D-rank mission requires you to leave the village."

Naruto smirked, "Sakura-chan, I am going on a C-rank mission. My first C-rank mission!"

"A C-rank mission?!" Sakura is shocked, her jaw dropped open, "How come?"

Naruto shrugged with a big smile on his face, "The Hokage just said that he thinks we are ready to do our first C-rank mission."

"That's not fair!" Sakura complains, giving Naruto the eyes that make resisting impossible.

Naruto is now even more nervous, "Saku-Sakura-chan, it's... I mean, I can't... do anything... about, er-that."

Before Sakura could continue the pressure on Naruto, Maki has already packed his stuff and right behind them. Sakura felt his presence and she could tell that he is not pleased that she used her feminine side to her advantage. She sighs and stops with the 'cute dog eyes.'

"Sakura, that's not very nice for treating Naruto like that." Maki scolded Sakura but he did not raise his voice.

Sorry." She mutters but it can be heard by both Maki and Naruto.

Naruto gulps loudly, "Its okay Sakura-chan. I know you are just playing around."

Maki narrows his eyes and looks at Sakura, "Well, since Naruto accepts your apology, then I don't see any need to punish you, Sakura."

Sakura nods her heads. Maki puts his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto, we should get going. I guess I took up a much longer time to pack my things."

Naruto seems surprised and looked at the clock in the living room. It is already nine twenty. 'I spend almost an hour here? But it seems like only five minutes!' Naruto thought.

The two then make their way to the front door. Naruto picks up his back pack and straps it on his shoulders. He then sits on the front porch as he wears his sandals. Maki has already worn his sandals so he is right now waiting patiently for Naruto. His back pack isn't really that heavy compared to Naruto. That is because he already knows what to pack and how much for a mere C-rank mission and since this is Naruto's first time; he had no doubt that he over packed. It seems that he is right.

Finally, Naruto is done and starts making his way to the gate. Before Maki closed the door, he pops his head in the gap and yells, "Sakura, don't forget to lock the door when you go on your mission!"

"Yes, uncle Maki!" Sakura yells back, which is coming from upstairs. Maki smirked. 'She is probably reading one of those darned romance novels. I will never understand her.' Maki thought as he jumps on a rooftop.

He finally caught up with Naruto, jumping on rooftops next to him. Maki has packed about eight of his custom kunai's for this mission. He only brings about the most fifteen of his custom kunai's at that is only for A-rank missions. He is also not wearing his Jounin vest. He has packed it into his backpack when he reaches the village in the country of light.

They finally arrive at the gate and finds that both Ino and Sasuke are already waiting for them. Sasuke is dressed in a dirty brown shirt with long torn up pants. Ino is wearing about the same colour but there are several patches around her outfit.

"Alright," Maki said when he reaches his team, "All of you are dressed up well. You don't look like a shinobi at all, especially to both Sasuke and Ino. Remember, we are merchants or villagers. We are only to engage with bandits that are a threat to us. If they demand money without trying to fight, just knock them out quick."

"And if they are hostile?" Sasuke asks, scratching his back. His dirty shirt must be uncomfortable.

"If they are hostile?" Maki smirks, "Then we take them out, permanently."

Naruto has his right fist in the air, "Alright, I am even more pumped out now!"

Team seven then departed, leaving their home. They can actually reach the country of light if they just jumped from the tree branch by using chakra sprint but they are in no hurry. Besides, they have to act like merchants so jumping from tree branch to tree branch is out of the question.

They did pass by some Konoha shinobi heading back to Konoha. Some were Jounins while are Genins from last year. Naruto is busy complaining to fight some bandits that have yet to show up. Sasuke is also hoping that they have to fight some bandits. At least he can test his fighting abilities and also help him train to one day fight his brother. The only ones not wanting to have any engagement are Ino and Maki.

Ino did not want to fight because she does not have much confidence in her fighting skills. As for Maki, he is just lazy to fight. Although the Genins can take care of themselves with mere bandits, he is responsible for their safety and even bandits can be a threat.

When they are finally miles away from Konoha, Maki stopped walking. His students realize it and stopped, turning to face him with confuse looks.

"Maki-sensei, is something wrong?" Ino asks her sensei who has a serious expression on his face.

Maki glances at Ino with a reassuring smile, "No, nothing is wrong but if you will all excuse me, I have to do my business."

They understand what he means and none has any intentions of knowing what it is. He walks off the path and into the trees, disappearing from sight. It took him about half a minute when he emerged from the trees, urging them to continue on.

Naruto is now whistling a tune to try escaping boredom and although Sasuke does not show it, he is actually enjoying the tune. It is quite catchy and Ino is actually snapping her fingers, keeping with the rhythm.

Suddenly, everyone in team seven stopped dead in their tracks when they hear rustling coming from the bushes. They all look at the bushes and all throw a kunai at the bush and the rustling stops. They all waited for something to happen when several dark figures emerged from the trees.

Naruto and Sasuke back away from the oncoming figure, Ino following them. The new comers ignored the kids and targeted the pink haired adult. About four of them throw several shurikens at Maki who easily jumped back. Then, to everyone's shock, a rope suddenly appears behind Maki and ties him up.

Sasuke looks behind Maki and finds about six masked figures holding the rope and in front of them are the figures that came from the trees, masked figures also. There is altogether about ten of them. They have no headband which means only one thing.

"Bandits." Naruto says as he takes out a kunai, preparing for combat.

The bandits ignored the Genins and concentrated on the Jounin. With Maki tied up, the ones in front of him charges towards Maki with swords drawn. The three Genins watch in horror as the four blades pierce through Maki's body from his sides and the front.

"Maki-sensei!" Naruto and Ino yell at the top of their lungs while Sasuke gulped loudly, taking a step back.

The four bandits coldly take out their swords from Maki's body. Maki then went limp. The ones holding the rope then release the rope and the body of Maki falls to the ground, dead. They then face the Genins.

"I can see that you are disguised well as merchants but your leader is gave away your identity." One of the bandits said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asks, his anger boiling.

"His stupid pink hair. He has been a pain the in the ass to us bandits, always destroying our camps. Now, he is dead and we will let you go, if you give us all of your valuables." Another bandit ordered, stepping forward with his palm open to receive items.

"As if we will let you go just like that." Sasuke snorted, moving into a defensive stance, gripping his kunai hard.

Before the bandits could do anything, a familiar sound is heard from behind them. The sound when a shadow clone is either created or dispelled. All ten of the bandits turn back and find that the Maki they killed earlier gone. The Genins of team seven all breathed in relief as they realized what happened.

'Damn it, you have got to stop scaring us like that.' Naruto thought.

Before they know it, several more white smokes appears next to the bandits and all then bandits are grabbed by ten of the Maki clones with a kunai at their necks. The bandits drop their weapon in fear, their knees going weak. Naruto watch in awe as the shadow clones of his Maki caught all of the bandits.

Then a voice is heard behind Naruto, "I hope I didn't scare you guys."

All three of the Genins turn to face the real Maki standing there. He has a relaxed expression on his face with his hands on his hips, looking at the bandits

"Sensei, when did you...?" Ino asks.

Maki smirks, "I already know we were being followed a few minutes ago. I purposely said I had to do my business so that they won't be suspicious that I created a shadow clone. I also did not choose to tell you guys so that you can act like my shadow clone is like the real me."

"So, when you came back from the 'business,' that is actually your shadow clone?" Ino asks.

Maki nodded. Naruto looks at the pink haired Jounin in awe and then faces the ten bandits who are cowering in fear while some are cursing for not realizing it. Naruto frowns and Maki notices this.

"Don't worry Naruto," Maki assures him, "I will save you guys each a bandit, so three of them will be... killed by your hands. I know this will be hard on you three but you have to go through the feeling of your first kill."

Sasuke and Naruto did not seem so disturb by this fact. Actually, they are excited to fight but Maki can sense Ino's fear. Maki sighs and orders his clones to finish the job. All seven of the clones slice the bandit's neck, killing them and allowing their dead bodies to drop to the soft earth. The three remaining bandits are trembling even more now as they watch their companions killed coldly.

The three clones then remove the kunai from their neck and kick their backs hard, causing them to fall down on the ground face first. The clones are then dispelled. The three bandits take a quick glance at the three kids that are said to fight them and immediately ran the opposite direction.

Naruto look at Sasuke with a smirk, "Let's see who can finish off our targets first."

"You're on, idiot."

The two rivals then sprinted off, chasing their targets. Ino stayed where she is, not knowing what to do. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she realized that it is her sensei.

"Ino, I know this is hard on you but this is the way of the ninja. If you allow your enemy the chance to live, they might come back in the future stronger and they have the experience to beat you. You have to kill them when you get the chance. You do want to make your father proud, don't you?"

Ino nodded her head, "I understand."

"Then go and get him. Show your team mates that you are an equal and make me proud."

Ino takes out a kunai, gathers chakra to her feet and sprints off, catching up with her team mates, filled with determination to beat her target.

Sasuke is the first to reach his target. When he is within reach, he grabs the man by the shoulder and spins him around. This caught the bandit by surprise so when Sasuke spins him, he loses his footing and starts to fall. Sasuke take this opportunity to kick the bandit hard in the gut and the bandit drops on all fours, coughing out blood. Sasuke knees the man in the face and the bandit is now on his knees with his hands on his side, reaching Sasuke's eyes level. The last thing he sees is the eyes of Sasuke before he feels his neck sliced with a cold metal and dropping to the floor.

Naruto curses as he sees that Sasuke beat him. Naruto just reach his target that is well prepared. The bandit throws the first punch but Naruto easily dodges his head and grabs the man's hand under his arm pit with a firm grip. Using his free hand, he uses his elbow to attack the bandit's elbow, breaking it. The man yells in pain to feel a kunai deep in his chest. Naruto shoves his kunai deeper into the man's chest and soon, the man dies, dropping on his back.

Ino on the other hand, is busy dodging punches and kicks from her enemy. The enemy then uses his right leg in an attempt to kick Ino's right side of her face but Ino ducks and she sees her opening. She slashes the bandit's left thigh, causing the bandit to fall on his back. Ino jumps into the air and then tosses three shurikens at her target. The bandit feels two shurikens piercing his chest and the third shuriken plunging into his neck. The man is still alive and struggling to take off the shuriken but he could not find the shuriken in his neck and soon dies.

Ino walks to her two team mates who are busy comparing who is the better shinobi. They take a quick glance at her, congratulate her and go back to arguing. Ino sighs and walks to her sensei that has a smile on his face.

"You did well Ino. You reacted better than I did when I had my first kill. I almost quit being a ninja but you seem to be okay." Maki complements her.

"Thanks sensei. That really means a lot to me."

"I speak the truth Ino. I will definitely tell your father personally about this." Maki says and then leaves Ino there, walking to his other two students.

Ino feels at peace. She really needed that, someone to tell her that what she did reached what he wanted. Even her father never gives a complement when she got good marks in the academy. He is too busy trying to relax after a hard day at the interrogation sector. She doesn't blame her father for being tired but can't a father at least try to show some appreciation for working hard in the academy.

She looks at Maki who is right now trying to stop the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. She giggled softly as Maki fails to stop the fight and has no choice but to grab them by the collar and brings them to where she is standing. Maki then orders them to continue on their journey if they want to reach the border of the country of light by nightfall.

Ino is the only thing stopping them from the boy's arguing with each other since she is walking between them. Sasuke is back to brooding while Naruto is muttering something under his breath. She looks at Maki behind them who have a calm expression on his face.

'If only I am older than I am, I wouldn't mind being her girlfriend.' Ino thought to herself.

They walk for hours when they finally reach the border of the country of light. The sun is also beginning to set under the mountains and Maki decides to stop for the night, much to the dismay of both Sasuke and Naruto.

"Alright," Maki says, placing his backpack against a tree, "Sasuke, I want you to go and collect firewood."

Sasuke nodded and makes his way into the wood. Maki then turns to Naruto, "Naruto, I want you to prepare dinner with your Ramen cups."

Naruto is shock, "You mean you are going to eat my precious Ramen?"

"Yes Naruto. It is not healthy for you to eat all that Ramen so we are going to help you by finishing them. So stop complaining or I will not train you when we get back." Maki threatens which seems to work on Naruto.

Naruto immediately drops his backpack and takes out four Ramen cups. He starts to pour the spices into the Ramen cups and preparing their dinner.

Maki turns to Ino, "Ino, I want you to help set up camp by setting up the tents."

"What?" Ino shrieked, "You want me to set up four tents? That will take over an hour for me."

Maki chuckles, "Ino, I never said set up four camps. I just said set up the tents but if you want the exact numbers, I want you to set up two tents while I take care of the other two."

Ino sighs in relief and starts doing her job. Maki then creates two shadow clones, one of the clones setting up the other two tents while the other clone disappeared into the woods.

Naruto finished with cutting and pouring all the spices looks at Maki, "Maki-sensei, we have no hot water. How am I going to cook the Ramen?"

Maki points at the direction where his clone disappeared to, "That is what my clone is doing. He is going to collect water from a nearby river."

At that moment, Sasuke returns from his task carrying a pile of wood in his arms. Naruto gives him a death glare but Sasuke merely ignores it, walking to his pink haired Jounin.

"Sensei, here are the firewood."

Maki nodded, "Good, just drop them on the ground."

Sasuke shrugs and drops the firewood to the floor. He picks up his backpack and then places it next to Maki's backpack. Sasuke then sit on the earth with his back against the bark of the tree.

Maki kneels on his knees and then starts doing a couple of seals with Naruto and Sasuke watching.

"Katon! Goakakyuu no jutsu!"

Maki made sure he uses only a small amount of chakra so that his fireball will not be that big. The fireball that comes out of his mouth is quite small and just enough to burn the firewood that Sasuke brought. The area around the camp lights up, bringing in light and heat for his students.

Ino has also just finished setting up the tents and then sits close to the fire with her two arms close to the fire, trying to gather up heat to her cold body. Maki sighs and opens his backpack. He takes out a brown jacket and places it on Ino's shoulders to help her warm herself.

Ino looks up at her sensei with a smile of gratitude, "Thank you, sensei."

Maki merely smiles back and sits next to Naruto. They watch the fire burn the wood until they hear footsteps approaching. The three Genins are alarmed and takes out a kunai. The figure emerges and the three Genins sigh in relief. It is Maki's clone and he is carrying a large bowl with water in it.

The clone hands Maki the bowl of water and then dispels itself. Maki then places the bowl above the fire, still holding the bowl. When he sees steam rising, he pulls the bowl away from the flames and gestures his students to get their dinner.

All three of them pick up their Ramen cups and walk to Maki. Maki pours the hot water into the Ramen cup, cooking it. Once his students have already received their hot water, Maki pours it into his Ramen cup. He then throws the remaining water in the bowl to the ground.

They ate in silence, none taking their eyes off the fire. The only thing that they can hear is the sounds of crickets making noise in the night. Maki enjoyed the silence and it actually made his eyes even heavier.

After Maki finishes his Ramen cup, he yawns loudly, "I don't know about you guys but I'm going to sleep."

"But sensei," Ino protests, "Won't we need anyone to keep watch?"

Maki looks at Naruto, "Naruto, create several shadow clones and tell them to patrol the area."

"But how I know when my clones see a bandit or enemy ninja near us?" Naruto asks.

Maki sighs, "Just tell your clone to dispel itself. You will know."

With that, he crawls into his tent and then crawled himself into his sleeping bag. He fell asleep instantly. He did hear his students entering their tents and that helped him sleep even easier.

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Naruto fluttered his eyes open when he could no longer hear the fire burning the wood. He sits up in his sleeping bag and finds that it is already morning since the outside of his tent is bright. He rubs his eyes and drags himself out of his sleeping bag and looks outside the tent to find Maki and his two team mates packing up.

"Hei, why didn't anyone wake me up?" Naruto said in an annoyed tone.

"I was about to," Maki replies, "But I heard you waking up so I decided not to."

Naruto grumbles and crawls out of his tent, yawning loudly. He scratches his head and starts to pack his tent. He did not care about the sleeping bag inside his tent and just continued to pack his tent. It took him about ten minutes and then packs the tent into his large backpack.

He straps the backpack on his back.

"Alright, let's continue on. We should reach the village to meet up with the messenger by noon."

The Genins of team seven nodded their head in understanding and follow their Jounin sensei. They decided that he should be leading them instead since he can sense enemy ninjas better than them.

Throughout the whole journey, the team walk in silence. Maki of course appreciated the silence but felt awkward that Naruto is not saying anything. He is known as one of the loudest ninjas in Konoha and his niece even says that is true. So he finds is strange that Naruto is not saying anything.

Ino is having a fight with her mind. She is somehow feeling attracted to her sensei and she is trying to tell herself that is wrong. 'A ninja can't fall for their sensei, can they? I mean, look at the age difference! And he is probably taken anyway. But why can't I shake these feelings I have?'

After several hours of walking, they finally sight a village in front of them. This is the village that they are suppose to meet up with the messenger.

"Finally!" Naruto said, "I am already getting tired of walking."

"You had better get used to it, idiot. We are going to have more missions where we have to travel even farther." Sasuke said.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted and almost pick a fight with Sasuke when Maki nodded his head.

"Sasuke is right, Naruto. In the future, we will receive missions where we have to travel where it might even take about a four day journey to get there."

Naruto looks at his sensei and then at Sasuke. He sighs in defeat and curses under his breath. Team seven then starts to make their way to the village, hoping to end this missions soon.

"Remember," Maki warned, "We are not to reveal our identities as ninja, especially our headband. If there are nearby Rock ninjas, we are going to be in grave danger."

They enter the village and start exploring the village. The village is quite populated and Maki can tell that this village is more like a checkpoint for travellers since he can see several inns.

"Alright, I guess we can check into an inn before we start our search for this messenger." Maki tells his team.

"You mean we don't even know where we are supposed to meet or how he looks like?" Sasuke asks angrily.

Maki nodded, "It is strange but that shouldn't be so hard. He should be wearing a mist headband so that should be easy."

They continue walking, trying to find an inn that can be good enough for them. They didn't want an inn that is too low in ratings but not too high either. Maki however did not pay attention to where they are going as he feels a presence.

With speed that could even be hardly seen with the Sharingan, he takes a custom kunai from his back pouch and tosses it to an alleyway, the kunai plunged deep into the wall.

"What's wrong sensei?" Naruto asks, looking at the kunai stuck into the wall.

Maki shakes his head, "It's nothing. Let's just continue on."

However, Maki know that something is not right. Forming a simple seal that could not be seen, he softly mutters, "Kai."

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"That is a close one. I thought he actually spotted me." A voice softly said to himself.

He has been following them the moment he felt their presence and wonders where these ninjas come from. He is a Rock Chuunin and he is going to prove to his village that he should be a Jounin by finding out who these ninjas are.

As he jumps to another rooftop, he takes a quick glance at the kunai in the alleyway. He notices that this kunai is thinner than the usual kunai. 'Strange.' He thought to himself.

He decides to continue following them for another two minutes before he reports to his team mates. One of them is a Jounin so he will need to be reported about this. He is about to jump to the next rooftop when he felt a cold metal placed on his neck.

He looks behind him but the stranger has a strong grip on his neck. He did notice something on his headband and he now knows that he is in a bad situation. 'What the heck is a leaf shinobi doing here?' He thought to himself.

"What are you doing?" The stranger says.

When he did not answer, the stranger places his kunai hard on his neck, causing a small amount of blood to trickle down his neck.

"I am assigned with my team assigned to find a mist ninja here."

The stranger seems shock, "A mist ninja? Why?"

"Why is a Konoha shinobi here?" The Rock Chuunin asks, ignoring the question.

The stranger curses, "So you saw my headband. Then, I cannot let you live."

"Wait," The man says, "How did you get here so fast? I was still watching you with the three kids and now you are suddenly here. You are not the yellow flash, are you?"

The man chuckles, "No, I am not."

"Then how did you get here?" The man asks, sweating hard.

"The moment I threw that kunai into the wall just now. I had to get you without risking my students so I sent a shadow clone."

The Rock nin is now in shock. 'He threw that kunai earlier to send a shadow clone. Could he be..?' He thought.

"A kunai that is unique and a shadow clone? You can't be... the Replicator?" The Rock Chuunin says.

The last thing he knew is the cold metal slicing his neck as he falls on the rooftop, dead.

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When the clone dispelled itself, Maki gained back the experience. He covers his mouth in shock, not wanting to believe this. 'Rock ninjas are in the area? And they are after the mist messenger? I have to do this quick. If they realize that Konoha shinobi is in the area, they will summon reinforcements.' He thought.

This is not going to be an easy mission after all. It is more of an A-rank mission and here he is, the only Jounin with three inexperienced Genins with him. This could be the mission where he might lose his life, but if the success of the mission has to take his life, so be it.


	10. Hide and Seek

**Here is the update. I hope you will like this chapter and remember, when jutsu's are in english it means i thought they did not exist in the naruto world so it is my own. if it is already used by kishimoto, i apologize...**

**Oh yeah, it seems that people are still confused with 2 of Maki's custom abilities. Alright, so i will explain once more.**

**1. The moment his custom kunai gets a drop of the enemy's blood, it will automatically create a shadow clone. Think of Hidan needing the enemy blood to do the ceremony. Unlike Hidan, Maki just needs his kunai to have the enemy's blood it will create a clone. note that the kunai can only create 1 shadow clone and even if Maki gets blood again, the kunai will not work to create a shadow clone.**

**2. The second skill is when Maki misses his attack and if the kunai is stuck into a tree, wall, etc. When the kunai is in the tree and Maki says "Kai" it will create a shadow clone on where the kunai is. Hope I cleared you guys confusion.**

**So, please, enjoy this chapter and REVIEW!! hehe.**

CHAPTER 10: HIDE AND SEEK

The sun is slowly rising but it is still not yet high in the sky. It is still in the morning, around ten in the morning and it is not so hot yet. It is a good weather to be lying down on the ground and looking at the clouds above.

Two ninjas, wearing dark brown vest that signifies that they are both pass the Genin rank. Their vest is darker compared to the sand village vest which is light brown. Theirs are darker in colour. The two of them are in an alley as they just completed their mission, looking at the dead man in front of them.

The two Rock ninjas along with their other team mate were assigned to take out this mist ninja. However, it seems that this mist ninja does not have much skill in fighting. So why was it so important to take this guy out? The superior one, a Jounin bends down and starts to inspect the dead body.

His subordinate, a Chuunin level asks, "What are you doing?"

"Don't you find it strange," The Jounin replies, "That Raikage-sama tells us to take out this mist ninja when this person does not seem much to have skills in defending himself."

"So what are you trying to say?" The Chuunin asks.

"This guy must have something important with him." The superior answers, checking the dead man's pouch.

The Rock Jounin then stops his inspection when he feels something in the back pouch. It feels like a scroll and it feels rather small than the normal scrolls. The Rock Chuunin notices that his superior officer has stopped.

"What's wrong?"

The Rock Jounin did no answer and takes out the scroll. He inspects the scroll, feeling every part of the scroll and then tries to open it but is unable to do so. He sees a seal that is keeping the scroll locked.

"It looks like this mist ninja is carrying something important. Whatever is in this scroll, Raikage-sama will be interested in this." The Jounin says, standing up and facing his team mate.

"You can't open it here?" His team mate asks, surprise that a Jounin cannot do so.

The Rock Jounin snorts, "Of course I can you fool! But we don't know what is inside it and is best that we give this to specialised sealers back in the village. Besides, this might be something important for only Raikage-sama to see."

The Rock Chuunin nodded, "I'm sorry. So, let's get going."

"Where is the other idiot? He is supposed to just scout the village, not explore and enjoy himself!" The Rock Jounin says in frustration.

His subordinate shrugs, "You want me to and find him?"

The Jounin jumps on a roof and looks down at his team mate, "Yeah. I will wait at our camp outside the village. We have to get back to the Rock village soon anyway."

The Rock Chuunin nodded his head and points at the dead mist ninja, "What do we do about him?"

"Just leave him there," The Jounin answers, "The villagers will find him and bury him for us."

With that, the Rock Jounin disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving his subordinate below in the alley alone. The Rock Chuunin covers his head with a cloak and leaves the alley, trying to find their other team mate.

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In a room, four Konoha ninjas are resting inside the room. The leader of the group is sitting on a chair, looking outside the window, lost in thought. He is thinking of the incident earlier and is troubling him deeply.

Naruto is lying on the bed with his head resting on the pillow. He is also lost in thought but he is thinking of a certain pink haired girl. It has only been a day since he left Konoha and he is already starting to miss her. He is lucky that he listened to Maki and said goodbye to her. 'I wonder what she is doing right now.' Naruto thought, sighing heavily.

As for Sasuke, he is sitting on the edge of the bed, brooding. He is furious that he only got to fight with one bandit. He needs to fight more experienced warriors, like ninjas or missing ninjas. He should spar with Naruto more since the two seems to be able to fight the bandits with ease.

Although, he is also happy at the same time that he is now being trained by Hatake Kakashi. The masked man still did not reveal to Sasuke how he knows so much about the Sharingan but did not push the man. As long as someone can help him unlock and train him in the arts of the Sharingan, he is already happy. He can tell that Kakashi is a strong ninja since he is fast in moving when he is still holding back.

As for Ino, she is in the bathroom taking a bath, hoping to relax her tired body from the walk. She is also trying to get rid of all the guilt she is feeling for taking a person's life. Her father must have taken lots of life and brought a lot of people's mind to suffer in the interrogation squad. So, if her father can do all that without feeling guilty, then she should be able to do so like her father.

Ino realize that she is taking too much time in the bath so she decides that it is time to get out. She dries herself and then ties a towel on her body and another towel on her head to help dry her long hair. She is still feeling uneasy that she has to share a room with her team when she is the only girl in the team. Even though Sasuke is with them, it is still embarrassing to be sharing a room with the guys.

She opens the door a little and pops her head outside, "Can anybody help me get my clothes?" She asks shyly.

Naruto and Sasuke turn to face Ino and since her head is outside, they can see her shoulders a little and thought that she is naked. Naruto is blushing hard and hits himself mentally for betraying Sakura like that. Even Sasuke is blushing and quickly turns back, trying to stop his nose from bleeding. Maki looks at his two male students and seeing that they are both perverts, decides to help.

He hands Ino her outfit and when Ino closes the toilet door, he stands in front of his two male students, his hands on his hips.

"You two have got to stop those thoughts from entering your minds. Yes, she is a girl and she is undress but all you guys took saw is just her shoulders and you guys are already blushing." Maki scolded them.

"That is easy for you to say, sensei," Naruto replies, "But it is much more difficult for us since our stupid hormones are active around this age."

"You guys are just twelve!" Maki tells Naruto.

"Well," Naruto to think of an excuse, "Our hormones are starting to act crazy already."

"You are just a pervert, idiot." Sasuke said, facing his blonde team mate, "So why don't you just admit it."

Naruto snorts "Look at who's talking."

Sasuke gives a confuse look, "What do you mean?"

Naruto is already trying to contain his laugh and Sasuke looks at Maki, trying to find out what he means. Maki has a hand on his forehead in disbelief. He can't believe that the last Uchiha in Konoha is probably a bigger pervert than Naruto. Maki uses his hand and points it at his nose and Sasuke reaches for his nose.

Sasuke can feel dried liquid on his nose and he realizes that the blood has dried up, telling Naruto that he had a nose bleed earlier. Sasuke clench his fists hard and had to fight the urge to beat Naruto up.

At that moment, the door of the bathroom opens and Ino comes out with a towel still wrapped around her head. Ino is now wearing a purple top that still reveals her flat stomach but she is no longer wearing a skirt. She is wearing dark purple tights that stop after the knee. Ino ties her headband to her waist and tosses the towel on her backpack. She looks at her team and realizes that all of her team mates are looking at her in silence.

"Is something wrong?" She asks, confuse written all over her face.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong!" Both Sasuke and Naruto says quickly and turning away.

Ino is now even more confuse and glances at Maki who is shaking his head. She shrugs and starts packing her towel properly into her backpack.

"Now that Ino is out, I can tell you guys now." Maki said suddenly, catching the attention of the three Genins.

All three of them look at him and Maki continues, "We have about," He looks at the clock in the room, "An hour and a half before noon so I am going to train you guys before we head for lunch."

The news cheers Sasuke up, "What kind of training?"

"Chakra control." Maki answers and starts to make his way to the door. The three kids immediately start to follow their leader, scrambling to their feet.

They run outside the inn to find that Maki is already waiting for them like as if he has been waiting there for hours. Ino is impress that he can get here so fast but that is expected of a Jounin anyway. Maki nodded and then jumps on a rooftop, urging them to follow him. They followed and everyone in team seven are currently jumping rooftop to rooftop until they are finally out of the village.

"What are we doing in the woods?" Ino asks, looking at her surroundings.

"This is where we are going to train, Ino." Maki responds.

"Now," Maki begins to explain, "Sasuke, Ino, you will have to pay attention for the exercise. You are going to climb a tree without using your hands. Before you ask how that is possible, you do that by gathering chakra to your feet. You have to gather at the right amount of chakra. You put too much chakra and you will jump off the tree and if you put too little, you will fall of the tree."

Sasuke is not impressed, "How does this help in our ninja careers."

Maki smirks, "This training helps increase your chakra control. If your chakra control is bad, you will use too much chakra for a jutsu and your jutsu will not be as good. If you have good chakra control, you will use less chakra and the damage will be even greater."

Sasuke is dumbfounded and looks at the tree. He is now interested in the training and starts to gather chakra to his feet. After a few seconds, he starts to run up the tree but after he runs a quarter of the tree, he slips. He luckily lands on his feet and looks at the tree again. 'This is harder than I thought.' Sasuke thinks to himself.

"Don't worry, Sasuke," Maki assures him, "Most males in the ninja world have band chakra control. It is the females that have better chakra control since their chakra capacity is smaller." Maki then turns to Ino, "Ino, why don't you try now?"

Ino nodded and starts to gather chakra to her feet. When she has gathered the right amount, she looks at the tree she is going to run. Taking a deep breath, she starts to run up the tree. She is surprised that she is running higher than Sasuke and when she is about to reach the top, she jumps off the tree for using too much chakra. She curse softly and lands on her feet also.

Sasuke is staring at Ino, unable to believe that she is better than him. He calms himself down when he reminded himself that Maki said that males have poor chakra control.

"Hei, Maki-sensei," Ino said, and Maki turns to look at Ino, "How come Naruto is not required to do this exercise?"

Maki laughs softly, "He has already done this with me about two years ago. I am his personal sensei since the Hokage assigned me to."

Ino and Sasuke turn to look at Naruto, who is grinning from ear to ear.

"Now," Maki said suddenly, "I want the two of you to continue doing this exercise until you think you can go no further. I want to find out what your specialities are."

"Specialities?" Sasuke and Ino said together. Ino blushes lightly when she realised that Sasuke asked the same thing.

"Just do it." Maki orders them and they obeyed, running up the tree again.

"Eh, Maki-sensei, what about me?" Naruto whines.

"Of course Naruto. You are weak in Taijutsu so I am going to train you in that."

Maki scratches his head, "How?"

Maki then moves into a defensive stance, looking serious, "Attack me with everything you've got."

Naruto is shock. He never expected to fight his sensei as training but then again, this is Taijutsu so this is the only way. Without wasting time, he runs forward to fight his sensei and the uncle of his crush.

Maki can already see his mistake. 'He is charging forward.' Maki thought. He sighs as he sees that the first thing that Naruto do is a mistake. Sure, you can do this if you are far stronger than your opponent but not when you are an equal or weaker than him.

Naruto uses his right arm to try and punch Maki's forehead but Maki easily grabs Naruto's wrist and tosses his away. Naruto is soaring in the air and tries to land on his feet but Maki's throw is too strong and so, he lands on his back. Naruto clench his teeth in anger. 'I have been training with him for two years and I am just tossed away just like that?' Naruto thought angrily.

"Never charge straight ahead on your enemy when you are far weaker than him." Maki said still in his defensive stance. It is as if he never moved.

Naruto instantly stands up and runs to Maki, his anger all in his fist. Maki can sense the boy's killer intent. The boy swings his left arm but Maki easily steps back but Naruto continues, punching left and right but hitting nothing but air. With each miss, it only increases Naruto's anger and killing intent.

Sasuke and Ino can feel his killer intent and has stopped their training. The killer intent is so large that it can actually bring fear to those who do not know him at all. The strange thing is that Maki seems to be not disturbed at all.

Naruto is getting fed up and uses his right leg to jump in the air. When he is falling down, he raises his right leg to charge up for the attack and when his leg is within each of Maki's head, he sends down his right leg. Maki without breaking a sweat moves his head to his left. Naruto misses and his right leg is grabbed tight by Maki's right hand. Maki once again tosses Naruto to the ground.

"Never let yourself be consumed by rage. You may have increased your power in your attacks but it blinds your attack. You were fighting like an amateur." Maki said to Naruto with anger in his voice.

"A ninja must always be calm, even in the direst of situations. You must never show your enemy your moves and your emotions. Your moves can let the enemy know how to beat you and your emotions will be a huge disadvantage if your enemy can read it. If you are in fear, your enemy will know that your body cannot avoid attacks easily and can finish you off with just one blow. With anger, he can tell you will make mistakes and will just wait until he sees the opening. These are the two types of emotions that must never be shown in a fight." Maki advices his team, hoping that they will learn something from this short lecture.

"I'm sorry, sensei." Naruto apologise, bowing low.

"Don't be, Naruto. You should be sorry if you repeat this mistake again."

Naruto nodded and sits down on the ground, watching his two team mates running up the tree. Maki continues to stand, watching them run up and down. Ino is the first to grow tired, as expected. He can see that Sasuke has finally reached the top after a few tries and then stops, stating that he can no longer continue.

Maki rubs his chin, "Alright, I can see it already. Ino, I can tell that your chakra control is above average but your chakra capacity is low. You will have to continue to do this exercise to improve both capacity and control. Your chakra is perfect for your clan."

Maki then turns to Sasuke, "Sasuke, I can already tell that you are a ninjutsu specialist, as expected from your clan. And with your chakra control, I can tell you are also a genjutsu user and with the help of the Sharingan, you can do powerful genjutsus. Your chakra control is at first, weak but it seems you can improve it quickly. Your chakra capacity is average."

Maki takes a deep breath and looks at his team with a smile on his face, "I am proud to say that my team is perfectly balanced. Naruto here is the support of our team and is more of a close combat ninja since he can use his shadow clones to fight his enemies. With Sasuke as a ninjutsu specialist, he can help Naruto beat his enemy from afar with jutsus and Ino, with your clan's powers, you can grab the enemy's mind when they are distracted by Naruto and Sasuke. This is indeed balanced."

All of the Genins take a quick look at each other and then, smiles. They are happy that they are team mates and Maki is surprised when Sasuke is laughing. 'Perhaps this boy will not be driven with the desire for revenge like I hoped.' Maki thought.

"Come on, let's go and eat." Maki offers.

"Alright!" Naruto cheers and starts following behind Maki.

"You have improved Ino. I am happy that you are my team mate." Sasuke says to Ino, much to her surprise.

Ino nodded her head, her body shaking, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

The two of them then run together to catch up with Naruto. Ino is so happy that Sasuke is finally talking and perhaps, this is a team where she can finally be herself. She doesn't have to act matured just to impress Sasuke.

As the Genins follow Maki, Maki is busy looking left and right for any signs of the mist messenger of any Rock ninjas. He is also looking for a restaurant to treat his students to lunch also but he has to be extra careful now. He hoped that the training earlier has improved his team's teamwork. They will need that if they are facing Rock ninjas, since the Rock bastards will not be showing any mercy, even to the children of Konoha.

Maki has already used up one of his custom kunai and he used it properly, killing a Rock scout. That scout is most likely with a team and he will have to find the mist messenger fast. He does not know why the Rock ninja are also looking for the messenger but he does not want to wait and find out.

Maki puts a hand in his back pouch to count his custom kunai's. There are still seven of them. It is probably enough to take on a few Rock Chuunins but if it comes to Jounins, he can probably take the most at least five or six of them, and that is only if the Jounins are weak.

"Maki-sensei, are you okay?" Naruto asks, walking next to him.

Maki is brought of his thoughts, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem to be troubled."

Maki chuckles, "No, I'm okay. Hei, how about we eat over there?" Maki asks, pointing at a lovely restaurant. The symbol of the restaurant is a prawn in the water so it is most likely a seafood restaurant.

"Sure, it seems to be okay." Naruto said, turning to his other team mates, "What do you think?"

Ino nodded happily while Sasuke simply shrugs, meaning he doesn't really care. Naruto is smiling broadly since his stomach has been complaining for food. As for Maki, he is happy that he is able to change the topic with Naruto since he does not need to burden Naruto with the thought that Rock ninjas might be the area. Or should he say, excite him.

They entered the restaurant and realized that the restaurant is pretty popular since it is about three quarters full. They took a booth at the right side of the restaurant. The booth is perfect for the team sinceit can only occupy four people. Maki slid in first, with the wall on his right and Naruto follows. Sasuke sits on the other side, facing Maki while Ino sits next to Sasuke, facing Naruto.

A waitress soon arrives, handing them four menus and then leaving to tend to the other customers. Everyone in team seven checked the menu in silence and when the same waitress arrives, they give in their order. Maki is relieved that his team did not order anything that is way too expensive. He checks his wallet and calculates that it should be enough to survive in this town at the most, another day by the way he is spending his money.

"So sensei," Naruto says, facing him, "When do we have to start finding this messenger?"

"Actually," Maki replies, clearing his throat, "I will be going to search alone. I want the three of you to do whatever you want, but whatever you do, do not separate. Stick together."

"Is there something wrong, sensei?" Sasuke asks, looking at Maki with suspicion.

Before Maki could reply, the waitress arrives with four plates and handing them their meal. Maki starts eating slowly, thinking where he is going to find the mist messenger. He also has to find him fast before the Rock ninjas find him. He has to get the scroll and get out of this village before trouble starts with Konoha's old enemy.

The two blondes are oblivious that their sensei is troubled. Sasuke can tell something is wrong and is actually happy that he just might be able to fight a strong ninja. He starts to eat faster than before; almost at the speed Naruto eats his Ramen.

"Hei sensei," Ino said as she places her chopsticks on her now empty plate, "Were you part of the great ninja war?"

"Of course he is!" Naruto said before Maki could answer Ino's question, "He is in his late twenties and the Great War is like, what? Sixteen years ago?"

"I know that!" Ino said to Naruto with an annoyed tone, "I mean, was Maki-sensei a ninja fighting in the front lines or more to the squad war team."

All three Genins of team seven glares at Maki, waiting for his answer. Maki rests his chin on his right hand, thinking back to the old days. It may have been said to be the worst of times for ninjas everywhere, but Maki felt the war is one of the best times of his life. That is because Himura was still in Konoha during that time and after the war, when Kawada died on a mission, that was when Himura left and he feels a part of him is missing.

"Well, I was about twelve years old at the time so I was nothing more but a mere Genin. I was neither in the squad war team or the front lines. I just help in Konoha, like taking of wounded ninjas and all that. Only Chuunins and above are allowed to fight in the war and I became a Chuunin after the war."

"So you never fought in the war?" Naruto asks, disappointed. He wanted to know how it was like in the war.

Maki shakes his head, taking another spoon of his meal, "Ninjas that are talented can start at an early age to join the academy and fight in the war. For example, Kakashi-san joined the academy around four and graduated at five. He became a Chuunin at the age of six and a Jounin at the age of twelve."

"Twelve?" All three Genins ask at the same time.

Maki nodded, "Kakashi-san is really a strong and talented ninja of Konoha. I had to work hard to be an equal with him. You guys can ask him how it was like in the war. However, he does not like to talk about it much as it brings painful memories of his past."

Team seven then continues eating in silence. Sasuke decides to ask Kakashi about the war when he gets back and also, how he knows so much about the Sharingan. No outsider should know so much about the Sharingan.

It took them about twenty minutes when everyone is finally finished with their lunch. Ino then starts pestering Sasuke, trying to ask him to a date when they get back to Konoha. Sasuke finally agrees to a training date, since it will benefit him in a way. Naruto also decided to try and ask Sakura on an official date. 'Maybe I can confess my feelings on the date. Yeah, maybe I should.' Naruto thought.

"Alright, you guys can go now. I'm going to go and pay for our lunch and start my search." Maki says and tells Naruto to move out of the booth so that he can get out. Once he's out, Naruto sits back into the booth.

"Now remember, you guys are to stick together." Maki said, facing each and every one of them.

All three Genins nodded their heads and then Maki left. The last they saw of Maki is handing a certain amount of money to the cashier and then walking out of the restaurant. The three Genins left started talking about nothing important until they realized that they spent too much time in the restaurant.

They finally leave the restaurant after spending almost an hour in the restaurant. It is now about one thirty in the afternoon. They have a lot of time to spend to explore the village.

"So, now what do we do?" Naruto asks, walking in the busy streets of the village.

"Perhaps we can go check the ninja shops here." Sasuke suggested.

"Yeah, but we are not buying anything! The ninja tools here are not as good in Konoha." Naruto said.

"How come?" Ino asks, curious.

"Well, this is not a fighting village so the shops that craft and sell them won't make them as good as the village of Konoha since they do not know what a ninja wants in their weapon." Naruto explains.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, agreeing with Naruto, "All ninja weapons must be properly balanced and sharp."

They spend about another fifteen minutes to locate probably the only ninja shop in the village. The shop owner is sleeping on his desk and since the kids are ninjas, they are able to walk into the shop silently, careful to not wake the man up.

The man is drooling and snoring quite loudly. He can be seen to be a man around his late forties or early fifties. His glasses are on the table next to him and his beard is wet from all his drool. Ino looks at the man in disgust, making sure to keep her distance.

Naruto and Sasuke looks at the kunai's in display. The kunai looks to be okay but they can see that the kunai is not very sharp. The shurikens are also rusting. Naruto pities the man. No wonder he is asleep. He probably does not have many customers. Naruto sighs and drops about two hundred ryou next to the man.

"Why did you that?" Ino whispers to Naruto.

"The man probably does not have very good business. It is the least I can do." Naruto replies softly.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Sasuke said, walking out of the shop.

His two team mates follow the Uchiha, wondering where they should go next. The village is quite big and they have the whole afternoon to themselves.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He has been looking for hours for that idiot. He is also getting frustrated, walking into every shop to find him. He has searched the entire village and he still cannot find that man. Despite his anger, he is also getting worried for his missing team mate. He jumps on a rooftop and starts jumping from one rooftop to another.

That man may be dumb and not very good in ninja skills, he is still a Chuunin. He should be able to take care of himself but he still has a bad feeling about not being able to find him. That man is a close friend of him since childhood and the man is normally never late for a meeting. He is supposed to meet the team back at camp to report if he has seen anything suspicious.

'Damn it, where are you? You better be okay, you idiot! And when I get my hands on you, I am going to beat you up so bad that you won't think of doing anything like this ever again!' The Rock Chuunin thought.

He continues jumping until he felt three chakra presences. 'What the? There are other ninjas here?' He thinks to himself.

He quickly conceals his chakra to hide himself. He can tell that the chakra is quite small, even when the three are combined. He slowly approaches the chakra signature until he spotted them. 'They are just kids!' He thinks.

They seem to be enjoying themselves. The Rock ninja decided to leave them alone since they are not much of a threat until he spots something that is not very good to be seen. They are wearing Konoha headbands. 'What the hell are Konoha ninjas doing here?' He thought and then it hit him. 'Could it be that they have something to do with that idiot not getting to our camp?!' He starts to get worried.

He decides to tell his superior about this. They will have to kill them of course, whether they are involved in their missing or late team mate. The Raikage has ordered every Rock ninja to kill any Konoha shinobi on sight and this is the perfect opportunity. He starts to increase chakra to his feet to jump faster, unable to wait any longer to tell this to his superior.

As he jumps, he spots something on the roof next to him. He stops and then jumps to the roof. He realizes that it is a dead body and realizes something that is even worse. The man is wearing a Chuunin vest of the rock and the man's face is facing the ground so he can't identify the man yet although he probably knows the answer.

He uses his legs to turn the man and covers his mouth in disbelief. He starts to think back of all the good times he had with his idiotic friend and is unable to stop his tears. He is a man that tries his best to follow the ninja's law, and that is to never show your emotions no matter the circumstances.

"I will avenge you, my friend. I will destroy those three shinobi brats that did this to you." He says silently, clenching his fist.

He jumps off the roof, deciding to head back to camp and report to the Jounin. Then, they will help avenge their dead comrade.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki is rubbing his temples in frustration. He has been looking for the messenger for about two hours and still, no sign of him. He looks inside another shop hoping to find a headband indicating it is from the mist but finds none.

Walking out of the shop, he continues his search until he hears a commotion coming ahead of him. Wondering what is going on, he makes his way to the group of villagers, wondering what can catch the attention of so many villagers.

When he reaches them, he realize that the group of villagers are too many and he can't tell what they are looking at. "Excuse me," He says to the villager next to him, a woman around her twenties, "Do you know what is going on?"

The woman looks at him, "Yeah."

"Well, care to fill me in the details?" Maki asks, not liking the look the woman is giving him.

The woman winks at him, "I will if you will go out with me tonight."

Maki rolls his eyes, "Yeah, sure. So, what happened?"

The woman is now smiling even more, "Someone found a dead body here in the alley a few minutes ago. It seems that the man is killed a few hours ago, perhaps just this morning. The only thing we know is that the man is wearing a headband. It seems he is from the village of grass, I think. I'm not so sure. I can never tell the difference between grass and mist."

Maki's eyes became large in shock. 'Oh no, don't tell me.' He thought. Knowing that he cannot push through the crowd, he disappears in a puff of smoke, much to the dismay of the young woman. Maki appears on top of the roof and just like what the woman said, he can see a dead body down there surrounded by villagers trying to find out more about the man.

Maki jumps down but no one notices him. He pushes a man to the side and inspects the man. Indeed, the man is wearing the headband of the mist village. He curses softly and starts searching for a scroll. It is not on his upper body and searches below, until he reaches his back pouch. He realizes that something is wrong. The back pouch is open and not closed.

He tears the back pouch of the dead man and searches for a scroll but finds none. He shakes his head in defeat, ignoring the confuse glares that the villagers are giving him. 'Great, mission failed!' He thought angrily. The first C-rank mission for his team and they fail the mission. The Hokage is not going to be pleased.

He jumps back on the rooftop, wondering what he is going to tell his team. The only things that they did in this village are train and eat here. What else? He decides to find his team to give the bad news. Then, another thought that scares him.

The Rock Chuunin that he killed said they are looking for the mist messenger. 'Were they also looking for the scroll? If they are, they are getting a scroll that is meant for Konoha to receive and that is valuable information going into the wrong hands. What am I going to do?' He thinks, starting to panic.

Suddenly, to his horror, he feels two chakra signatures moving fast. He is lucky that his chakra is concealed. He can tell that the two are Rock ninjas and the bad thing is, one of them is around his chakra level. The other one is lower but can still be a threat. He can probably take the two of them in combat but he will be wounded.

No, he is sure he can beat them. Then, to his horror, he can feel three smaller chakra signatures and the two chakra signatures are approaching them. Then it hit him, 'Naruto! Sasuke! Ino! Shit!' He thought.

Gathering chakra to his feet, he starts to get to his students before those Rock ninjas get to them, hoping that he can save them before he is too late. He takes out his custom kunai, realizing that there is only six left in his pouch.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It is already three thirty in the afternoon and they have nothing else to do already. They have finished exploring the village and the village is boring. They have nothing entertaining to do. The only thing they have here are restaurants, shops, inns and a run down cinema.

They tried to look for their sensei but could not find him. They did pass by something that the villagers are interested in, gathering at an alley but they ignored them since they are probably watching something that would not interest them.

Naruto yawns loudly, "I am so bored!"

"You're not the only one." Sasuke said, giving a small yawn.

"Man, I can't wait to get out of this village. I thought a C-rank mission will be fun but this is so boring!" Naruto complains, looking at Sasuke and then at Ino.

"Hei, what about we go train?" Ino suggests and the two boys look at her with awe. They are looking at her as if she is an alien and the glare that Sasuke is giving her caused her to blush lightly.

"I never thought of that." Naruto said, looking straight ahead, "Come on, let's go train!"

Naruto runs forward, leaving Sasuke and Ino alone. Sasuke smiles at Ino, "For once, I admit you are thinking with your head."

Ino blushes harder, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She didn't know if she should be offended or not that Sasuke said she used her head.

Naruto continues running, excited that he can train without Maki telling him to be careful not to use too much chakra or he will pass out of chakra exhaustion. Thanks to the damn fox inside of him, his chakra is a lot so there should be nothing Maki has to be afraid of.

While still running, he turns to his two team mates behind, "Come on you guys! You are walking like an old couple!"

As he is running, he did not notice that the ground below him is starting to crack. Sasuke did notice though and shouts, "Naruto! Watch out!"

Naruto heard what Sasuke said and stops, and on time. The ground right in front of him suddenly opens a pit with sharp spikes below. He then sees two men in front of him; one of them has his hands in seals.

"Damn, he escaped my technique." The one said, wearing a headband on his right thigh with extremely short brown hair. He then starts doing seals again.

"Doton! Spike release!"

The spike in the pit then suddenly throws at Naruto, all aiming at him. Naruto grabs a kunai and starts to block the spikes but he could still feel two small cuts on his left arm. He could see the last spike aiming for his head and he is too slow to react.

To his surprise, he could feel someone grab his waist, pulling him to the ground. He lands on something soft and realize that it is Sasuke. Sasuke throws Naruto off of him and looks at the two men in front of them, drawing a kunai.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Sasuke eyes, not taking his eyes off the strangers.

"Yeah, thanks Sasuke." Naruto says as he gets up, feeling the pain in his left arm.

Ino reaches behind Naruto, "Naruto! Are you hurt?"

Naruto winces in pain as he feels the cuts, "Just a little. The cuts on my left arm are small but it hurts."

The man that cast the jutsu laughs, "You Konoha shinobi are weak! I don't even know how you killed our partner."

"What? We didn't kill any Rock ninjas." Sasuke yells, not wanting to fight them. He knew that he wish he can fight tough ninjas but these are two high level ninjas.

"Liar!" The other ninja yells. He has long black hair tied in a ponytail and has several scars on his face, "I don't know how you weak ninjas can kill him but we will avenge him. And also for our fallen comrades in the war!"

The ninja charges at him while the other one with short hair starts to do seals. Sasuke and Naruto prepare themselves, drawing out a kunai while Ino is cowering in fear from the killer intent that is being released by the charging man. The man with the short hair completes the seals.

"Doton! Wave of the earth technique!"

The ground beneath Sasuke and Naruto starts to move sideways, causing Naruto to lose his balance and drop. The ground is like a strong wave; continue to push him to the side. He and Ino are being swept away while Sasuke is concentrate on his footing, still standing.

He concentrated too much on his footing he forgets about the charging man in front of him. The next thing he know, he feels a sharp pain on his left ribs and he falls next to Naruto, grabbing the spot where he was kicked and yelling in pain.

"Damn you!" Naruto yells at the man who is standing about fifteen metres in front of them.

The man ignored Naruto and faces his team mate, "I will take care of them."

The man nodded and relaxes. The man with scars grabs a kunai and charges at them, his kunai ready to kill the three young shinobi. Naruto can only watch as the man is getting nearer and nearer, and waits for the pain to come.

The next thing he knows is a figure emerging right in front of his other team mates, blocking the attackers kunai with his kunai, the sound of metal meeting metal heard. The new comer has long pink and Naruto is so happy to see him.

"Maki-sensei..." Naruto says, relieved.

Without looking back and paying attention to the attacker, he asks, "Are you okay, Sasuke? Naruto? Ino?"

"Yeah. We are okay now." Ino answers.

That is all Maki needs to hear and then he strikes. Using all his might, he is able to push the man back with his kunai and quickly creates a shadow clone. The man, shock to see that Maki can create clones so fast backs away. Maki continues the chase and his clone reaches the attacker.

The Rock ninja blocks the clone's fist and slashes the clone's neck, dispelling the clone. Maki continues on and attacks, his fist connecting with the man's gut, the man coughing out blood. Maki then backs away slightly and gives a hard kick to the man's chest. The man flies back until he crashes onto a wall, giving a big crack on the wall. Maki gives him no chance to recover and charges forward but is suddenly stopped.

He looks down at his feet and realizes that the ground has become some sort of sticky mud. He glances at the Rock ninja's partner and realized that he casts the jutsu on him. He looks back at the Rock ninja is fighting. The Rock ninja, a Jounin, forms seals.

"Raiton! Flash of the sky technique!"

From the palm of the Rock ninja's hand, a flash of light appears and he throws it at Maki. Maki looks on in horror and feels the ball of white flash smashing with his head. Upon impact, the ball explodes in a small radius and although it does not blast Maki's head off, it should blind him for some time.

The Rock Jounin smirks and starts to form seals again when he hears his team mate shout, "Dawari! Behind you!"

He looks at the pink haired shinobi in front of him disappear in a puff of next thing he knows is a fist connecting with his right cheek and the punch is so hard that he lands back next to his team mate, feeling a small amount of red liquid dripping of his mouth.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Ino! Get behind me." Maki orders his students.

They obeyed and stood behind him, looking at the bleeding man on his back and the other ninja sweating slightly.

The one that Maki punched laughs as he wipes the blood off his mouth, "A pink haired Konoha shinobi and he actually thought I can kill him when it was a shadow clone. The power of confusion and pink hair? You must be The Replicator."

Maki took out a kunai and grips it tight, glaring at the Jounin. He is mad as hell for them hurting his students. The Rock Jounin continues to laugh softly, standing up next to his team mate.

"No wonder that idiot died by your hands. I will make sure to avenge him." The Rock Jounin said, taking out another kunai.

"Dawari, are you sure you can beat him?" The Rock Jounin's team mate asks, looking at Maki with fear.

"I will try. This Konoha ninjas are really starting to piss me off." He said with anger.

The street is luckily empty as the four Konoha shinobi's look at the two Rock ninjas. This is a battle between old enemies and only one Konoha shinobi is strong enough to take on the two Rock ninjas. However, Maki knows that they will indeed separate him and his students so he is going to have to take care of the Jounin, fast.

Maki grips his custom kunai hard, preparing for a battle that is starting to worry him. Not for his life, not because he is scared that he will lose. He know that he can beat them but he is worried for his students. 'Let's just hope that all will go well.' He thought, preparing for battle.


	11. The Fire Lance

**So, here is the update. I want to Apoglize for my mistake. I really thought it is the Raikage for the Rock village but i guess i was wrong. I really am sorry for that mistake. Anyways, here is the new chapter.**

**Also, I would like to say that i have to go to Malaysia next week for the holidays so i am not sue if i can update for the next 2 weeks but i will try. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

**I hope you enjoy this one and please review.**

CHAPTER 11: THE FIRE LANCE

The wind is blowing against the six ninjas and they are all looking at each in silence that the only they can hear is the wind blowing against them. The villagers have left the area from fear of losing their lives. Even though they are not part of the fight, they can still be harmed by being dragged in accidentally or when their attacks miss, they are the one that receive it.

However, out of all the six ninjas, they others can feel the two ninjas killer intent. They are coming from the two team leaders, the team leader of the Konoha team and the Rock leader of the Rock team. The other Rock ninja, although is powerful compared to the underlings of the pink haired Jounin is still weak compared to his partner next to him.

"Sensei, what is the plan?" Naruto asks from behind.

"For now, it is best that we fight them separately." Maki stated.

"Seperate them?" Sasuke asks, unsure of Maki's plan.

Maki nodded, "We have no idea of their team work. From what I have experience in the short fight with that guy, they have good team work. The guy with short hair seems to be a ninjutsu specialist while the guy I fought prefers close combat fights but is also capable of fighting from afar with ninjutsu."

Sasuke glares at the two Rock ninja. The one who is still on his knees has his hands ready to do seals. The one who is standing with a kunai is in an attacking stance, ready to charge at them but unsure to do so or not. 'Damn it, I need to unlock the Sharingan to fight them.' Sasuke thought.

The Rock Jounin, known as Dawari, takes a step forward, "Now then, let's get this started."

Maki faces his students, "I will be taking that guy one on one. You guys take the ninjutsu specialist. I will try and get to you guys as fast as I can. Now remember what I told you in the test, no matter how strong a ninja is, team work can always beat the strongest ninja."

All three Genins nodded nervously, looking at the kneeling Rock Chuunin. He is well prepared for a fight, ready to cast a jutsu whenever he is ready. Naruto clenches his fists and looks at Sasuke and then to Ino.

"Alright guys, we can do this. We are Konoha ninjas!" Naruto said, trying to gain some confidence.

Maki smiles, "Just remember guys. This is the real thing. You are fighting for your lives and so is that guy, so give him everything you've got."

Maki then gets on his knees, next to Naruto's left ear, "Naruto," He whispers, "Use all the wind techniques I have taught you."

Naruto nodded, "I will sensei. Although I don't know why I have to use wind techniques. Fire is cooler than wind."

Maki smirks, "I will explain to you when you are old enough to maybe understand. And Naruto," Maki hesitated, "Stay alive and remember everything I've taught you."

Sasuke and Ino watch as Maki is saying something to Naruto but he is too soft for them to hear anything. They know that Maki seems to favour Naruto more he is probably giving advice for the fight.

Maki then gets up and faces the Rock Jounin again, gripping his kunai with his right hand and moving to a defensive stance. The three Genin all jump on the rooftop to their right, running away from the scene.

The Rock Chuunin looks at the kids running away and then at his partner next to him. Dawari looks at his partner and he can see his face is asking him what to do. He looks at the pink haired shinobi in front of him and he can tell that Maki wants a one on one fight with him. 'This should be interesting.' He thought, smiling.

"Go after the kids, Nobu. I will take care of him." Dawari instructed his partner.

Nobu nodded and jumps on the roof, following the three Genins. They are already getting farther and he is going to have to use more chakra on his feet to catch up with them. He knew that he is not going to underestimate them since they are under The Replicator.

Back at the empty road, the two Jounins of different village continue to look at each other in silence, hatred in their eyes. Maki ties his long pink hair into a ponytail. He only does this when he is serious so that his hair does not disturb him. It seems now is that time.

The Rock Jounin, Dawari chuckles, "You are clearly underestimating my partner. If you think that three Genins can beat him, you are clearly mistaken."

"Perhaps you are the one that is underestimating my team. They can beat a Rock Chuunin easily."

Now Dawari is laughing loudly, "You are a fool! By the time five minutes have passed, they will be dead."

Maki grits his teeth, "Then I will kill you before the five minutes are up."

Dawari shakes his head, still laughing, "You didn't think that I would be dumb enough to face you, Maki, The Replicator, alone if I don't think I can beat, did you? I am the top five of the Jounin of the village of the Rock!"

Maki did not show fear, "Top five or no top five, I will beat you."

"Confident, are you?"

"From the fight we had earlier," Maki said, "I can see that you possess the lightning and earth elements."

Dawari smirks, "Good observation. I never even showed you any earth techniques and you already know."

Maki did not respond. He is just a fire element and is thankful that he does not contain water element. Maki is the first one to attack. With his custom kunai still in hand, he throws his kunai at Dawari. Since his kunai is lighter and thinner than usual, Dawari can barely see the oncoming kunai but thanks to experience, he estimated where it would hit and tosses his kunai at chest level. His estimations were correct as the sounds of two kunai's meeting were heard.

The two kunai's landed on the ground. Maki looks at his fallen kunai and put that thought in mind. He takes out another of his unique kunai, leaving him only with five more left in his back pouch.

"Are you underestimating me? You think just because your kunai is near invisible I would get hit just like that? I know of your abilities, Maki on how you need blood to create a shadow clone." Dawari said in a displeased tone.

Maki spins his custom kunai and then grips it, "Why are you after the mist messenger?"

"Changing the subject? Well, I guess telling you would do no harm since I have very little information and you will die today. Frankly, the only order's I received from Tsuchikage-sama just ordered my team to take out a mist ninja that is said to arrive here. That is all I know but it seems..." Dawari then takes out a scroll from his pocket, "That the mist ninja is carrying is something important."

Maki looks at the scroll in Dawari's hand. He narrows his eyes and can tell that is the scroll he needs to get for the mission. 'So I have not failed the mission. Good, a better reason to kill the man.' Maki thought.

"Ah, from the expression on your face, I can tell you are looking for this." Dawari said smugly, "As much as I would like to destroy it, I think Tsuchikage-sama will be interested in its contents."

"You will not live to deliver it to your leader." Maki said and finally makes his move.

He sprints forward with his kunai in front of him to prepare for any attack. He remembered he told Naruto to never charge forward but here he is, doing the same thing. He quickly forms seals while running towards Dawari.

"Katon! Karyu Endan!"

Maki's mouth shoots fire out of his mouth. The fire aimed at Dawari is in the shape of a bullet is accompanied by a large amount of fire. Dawari knows this technique. The fireball shaped like a bullet is to hurt him a lot and the fire behind it is to burn him. He also quickly forms seals.

"Doton! Douryuheki no jutsu!"

Dawari spits out a small amount of dirt to the ground. The dirt suddenly grows at an extreme rate, growing into a large wall. Dawari is standing behind the wall and enforcing the wall with chakra to withstand Maki's jutsu.

The impact was quite devastating. If Dawari had not enforced it with chakra, it would have been destroyed. Maki curses softly and continues his run. Since his technique failed, he forms another seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

About four clones are created and two of them run up the wall while the other two run around the wall to find Dawari running up his wall he created. While Dawari is running, he takes a quick look behind him to find that Maki is chasing him with two clones. He looks back in front of him to find two more clones coming from above.

He quickly jumps off the wall, spinning in the air so that he can land on the ground on his feet. Still falling, he made his first mistake. He cannot do anything to avoid an attack in the air. One of the clones jump off the wall and kicks Dawari hard on the chest and Dawari is seen soaring through the air and crashes on a building, hard. The impact leaves a large crack behind him.

Maki, with his four clones now running towards Dawari is not going to give him the chance to recover. The real Maki, still holding his custom kunai throws it at Dawari who is still in the crack wall. Dawari sees the kunai and jumps off the wall on time, feeling the kunai pass right above his hair. The kunai slightly pierces the wall and the kunai is now stuck inside the wall.

'I still have four of my kunai's left.' Maki thought.

Dawari is on the ground now and watches Maki's four clones approaching him. He quickly forms seals.

"Raiton! Fingers of destruction!"

He opens the palm of his right hand and from his five finger tips, lightning gushes out of it. It strikes all of Maki's clones, dispelling it but the last lightning found no target and slowly fades. 'Where is the real one?' Dawari asks himself.

"Katon! Goakakyuu no jutsu!"

The voice is coming from above him and he looks up. He could not see Maki but he can definitely see a large fireball coming towards him. The fireball is quite large and if he jumps to avoid it, he will not make it. He will definitely suffer some burns and that is not good. He quickly forms seals of his own.

Maki can see his fireball destroying and burning the ground where Dawari was. As he is landing back to the ground, he forms a simple seal just to be careful. He lands on the ground and looks around for Dawari. From the burns of his fireball earlier, he can see a small hole on the ground. 'A hole? It looks like someone was digging a hole and... Oh shit!' Maki thought.

He is too late as he feels someone gripping his right leg. He looks down and he can see a hand from underground with a voice.

"Doton! Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu!"

Maki struggles to free himself but Dawari pulls him in to the ground and the only thing that can be heard is Maki screaming. Dawari soon jumps out from underground, facing Maki's head. His entire body is in the ground and he takes out a kunai, ready for the kill. He is also panting a little. 'Damn it, I am getting tired. I better be careful on how I spend my chakra.' He thought, walking closer to the helpless Maki.

When he finally reached Maki, to his horror, Maki disappears in a puff of smoke. Maki's eyes popped large in shock.

"A shadow clone?" He said in shock.

He doesn't how he did it. He thinks it is instinct but he quickly ducks. A fist came from behind him. Dawari turns back and finds Maki with his fist just above him and Dawari quickly counter-attacked. He aims his fist at Maki's jaw and it connects. The upper-cut is powerful that Maki is in the air and lands hard on his back, blood coming out of his mouth.

Dawari smirks, "You think your clones can always help you, Konoha weakling?"

Maki wipes the red liquid off his mouth, "That is just pure luck."

Maki stands up and moves into a defensive stance, feeling the pain in his jaw. Maki takes out another of his custom kunai to prepare for a close combat fight and Dawari does the same. 'I only have three left. I have to be careful.' Maki thought.

Dawari and Maki charges at each other at the same time, yelling a battle scream. Their kunai's connect with each other, echoing throughout the village. They continue this routine for some time, meeting with each other head on, the kunai hitting with each other and then repeating the process.

Maki is getting tired of this and quickly forms seals.

"Katon! Hell's explosion!"

A large ball of fire comes out of Maki's mouth and is slowly coming towards Dawari. Dawari has heard of this technique and quickly jumps back but is too late. When large ball of fire is within range, it explodes and small fireballs are all being thrown at Dawari. This technique is normally used to attack a large amount of targets and requires large amount of chakra. Dawari is now avoiding the best he can until he feels one of the fireballs crashing on his right shoulder and right in the centre of his chest.

Dawari falls, landing on his back as he yells in pain from the burns. His shoulder is bleeding badly but thankfully, his Jounin vest received most of the burns on his chest so the pain is not much on his chest. He grips his right shoulder, wincing in pain. He looks around and could not find Maki anywhere.

Then, a large shadow is formed below him, becoming larger every second. He knows what this mean and looks up and finds Maki in the air, ready to deliver a kick. Dawari jumps back, still gripping his right shoulder. Suddenly, he trips when someone kicks his ankles.

He falls on his back to find another Maki behind him. 'A shadow clone? So he tripped me?' He thought.

Suddenly, he feels hands grabbing both his hands and feet. There are four Maki's now, each grabbing his hands and legs and they all toss him into the air. Dawari quickly does a technique on time, feeling something hot from below.

"Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

The fire shaped in a dragon is aimed at Dawari. Dawari is consumed by the flame, burning. Maki knows that if a person receive this technique should be dead by now if it directly. When the technique is finished, he can see mud dropping from where Dawari was.

"A Kawarimi of a mud?" He mutters.

He looks behind him and sees Dawari standing there. He is breathing hard. He is getting tired and the burns on his shoulder must be painful if he is not treated by a medic ninja. Maki himself is starting to pant. He has been using high level fire techniques and shadow clones are something that takes up a lot of chakra.

He can see that Dawari is smiling and looks down. An exploding tag is right in front of him and he quickly jumps back. He jumped at the nick of time as the exploding tag explodes, destroying all of his clones and also a few buildings around the area are badly damaged. 'Damn it, Hokage-sama is not going to like this.' Maki thought.

He is still in the air and the only thing he can see in front of him is the thick black smoke. Suddenly, Dawari emerges from the smoke with a kunai drawn, ready to fight. Maki quickly draws his kunai and blocks the attack. The two meet, kunai to kunai.

The two lands on the ground and they two of them charge once more. Maki is sick of just blocking and rolls to the side. This caught Dawari by surprise and nearly trips as he runs pass Maki. With Dawari's back facing Maki, Maki runs and kicks him hard on his back.

Dawari yells in pain and crashes on to a wall. The wall is the same wall where he was kicked in earlier where he left a large crack on the wall. He can see one of Maki's kunai in the wall. He threw it earlier and Dawari was lucky to escape it.

With Dawari still on the wall, Maki quickly forms a simple seal.

"Kai!"

The custom kunai that is stuck in the wall, above Dawari creates a shadow clone of Maki. Dawari looks up only to feel a kunai plunge deep into his right shoulder. He yells in pain as the pain from the burns earlier and now, a kunai is giving him pain he has never felt before. He quickly punches the shadow clone, dispelling it.

'Damn it, I am going to lose if this continues. It seems I have no choice but to use my combo to beat him.' He thought as Maki is now charging towards him again. He makes his decision and quickly forms seals.

"Doton! Pit of spikes!"

The ground in front of Maki suddenly opens a pit with sharp spikes like the one he saw used on Naruto earlier. He stops on time but Dawari is continuing his combo.

"Doton! Spike release! Raiton! Charges of death technique!"

The spikes all come flying at him and Maki quickly creates three more clones to try and take in the damage while he is also avoiding and blocking the incoming spikes. To his shock, he realizes that the spikes are charged with a high amount of voltage. The spikes are all buzzing with electricity, destroying the clones easily.

Maki cursed loudly and jumps up high, avoiding all of the spikes that passed by. Dawari is smiling, expecting this from him. He quickly forms seals for the final technique.

"Forbidden technique! Ground of the underworld!"

Since Maki is now falling back to the ground, he cannot escape whatever Dawari is doing. Below Maki, the ground is opening and nothing can be seen inside it. It is pitch black and he can see dark shadows inside. He can tell that whatever those shadows are, they are evil and he does not want to find out.

Dawari collapses on his knees for using such a high level technique, his chakra extremely low. He is laughing while gasping for air, "You... Will die now! No one... has... ever... escaped my... combo... Those that are captured... in the pit... will suffer... for eternity!"

Maki, having no intentions to die just yet forms a seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

He creates one shadow clone next to him and the clone acts fast, grabbing Maki and tossing him on a roof. The clone takes the fall, falling into the dark pit. The ground then closes the pit and Dawari looks on in disbelief. He is too tired to continue his fight and looks at Maki on the roof who is also panting.

'That is a close call. Whatever technique that was, it could have killed me.' Maki thought, looking at the ground where the black pit was formed earlier. He was lucky that practising so much with his shadow clones has given him lots of ideas on how to use them.

Maki is tired but he still has about half of his chakra. He looks at where Dawari is and he sees his good fortune. He knew that doing that earlier will be useful. He quickly forms a seal.

"Kai!"

A shadow clone is created right behind Dawari. Dawari is too tired to react and can feel the shadow clone of Maki behind him grab his arms tightly, not going to let go anytime soon. The clone makes Dawari faces Maki. Dawari looks at Maki with a confused expression.

"How? When did you have your damn kunai behind me?" He asks.

Maki smirks, "At the start of the fight."

"What? When?" He is even more confused now.

"You remember when you said I was underestimating you by throwing my kunai straight at you and you intercepted it by throwing your kunai. The shadow clone comes from that kunai you intercepted, right behind you." He explains.

Dawari is shocked, "You planned this from the beginning."

Maki shrugs, "Something like that. I knew that kunai will come in handy but I never thought it will be the death of you."

Before Dawari can ask what he means, Maki is forming seals. The seals are so many that it took Maki about four seconds to complete the seals. Maki then concentrates a large amount of chakra to his right arm and to Dawari's amazement; Maki's right hand is consumed by a red flame. Maki is not being affected by the flame. The flame is not burning him and now Dawari realized what it was.

"So, you are going to use the A-rank jutsu I have heard you created? The one that you have only used three times in your life and none has lived." Dawari asks, looking at Maki's right arm.

"That's right. And you won't live also. You should be honoured that you forced me to use this technique. This is my own jutsu, Fire Lance." Maki said and charges at Dawari.

Dawari struggles to free himself from the clone's grip but the clone is not letting go. Since it is just a clone, he is going to die with him. Dawari then looks in front of him, red flame coming right at him. He can see death approaching him and when Maki finally reaches him, he looks in the eye of The Replicator.

Maki smashes his hand right into Dawari's chest, piercing through it. However, Fire lance does not kill like Raikiri. His hand went into the chest but unlike Raikiri, it does not go through the body. Maki's right hand is still in Dawari's chest and here, is where he kills the enemy. With his right hand still engulfed in flame, the fire travels inside Dawari's body, burning the internal organs and chakra system.

Dawari screams in pain. He can feel the inside of his body burning and feels like this is hell. The pain is intense and Maki does not pull out yet. Finally, the flames reach the heart and it burns the heart until it stops beating. Dawari's heart beat stops and his body went limp. Even if the fire does not burn the heart, it has destroyed too many important organs and so, the enemy will die sooner or later.

Maki takes out his hand, no longer in flames. The clone holding onto Dawari dispels and the body falls to the ground, dead. The hole in Dawari's chest is quite big and Maki can still see small amount of fire still burning inside of him. This is why he does not always use this technique. It tortures the human body to death and even he respects his enemies and will only use it as a last resort. He can't imagine feeling your insides burning to your death.

Maki collapses on his knees, breathing heavily. This is why his technique, Fire Lance, is fourth in rank in the A-rank jutsu list. It can actually be third but due to the large amount of chakra usage, it is fourth. He can't believe that Rasengan is second in the list and it is not yet even mixed with any nature element. His Fire Lance and Raikiri is already mixed with their natural element and is not even able to compare with Rasengan yet.

Maki then starts to find the item he needs on Dawari's dead body. He found the scroll and shoves it into his back pouch. Now he has finally got what he came for and damn, this mission has become more of a B-rank to him, fighting a ninja from another village.

Maki counts his custom kunai's and he still has about three. He also only has about a quarter of chakra left and since he has a lot, that means he has used up a lot of chakra. Fire Lance uses about a quarter of it so he should be careful. He gets up to his feet and starts his search for his students, praying that they are still okay.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the outskirts of the village, in the forest, a battle is raging on. The Rock Chuunin summoned a large wall from the ground with spikes, causing Naruto to stop his attack.

Naruto curses loudly as he is forced to jump back. He almost reached his enemy when he used that jutsu to force him to jump back. He is now next to Ino and Sasuke is a few metres away from them, to their right. The wall with spikes then crumbles as the Rock Chuunin releases the jutsu.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Ino asks, kneeling next to him.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. We were so damn close!"

Ino looks at the Rock Chuunin, panting, "Yeah but we should keep it up. It looks like as if he has been using too much chakra and is starting to get tired."

"If we can keep it up. I am also getting tired from using all those wind techniques." Naruto replies.

"Why do you keep using wind techniques?" Ino asked, curious despite the situation they are in.

Naruto shrugged, "I am not so sure myself. Maki-sensei just said that wind techniques would be perfect for me."

They hear the earth rumbling and look at Sasuke as he jumps back to a tree. The ground beneath him suddenly collapses and the ground, in the shape of a spear lunges at him. Sasuke is able to avoid it by jumping down. The spear destroys the tree he was on earlier. Sasuke runs back to his team mates, panting.

"Damn it, we have to end it soon. That guy's jutsu's are really starting to get dangerous." Sasuke said, looking at the tree that was destroyed.

"We have tried everything," Naruto said angrily, "We need a plan to get him off guard."

As the three Konoha ninjas discuss with each other, the Rock Chuunin, Nobu, is also trying to figure out how he is going to win this fight. 'This is embarrassing. How can three Konoha Genins keep up with me for so long? I can tell they are strong but they are still Genins!' Nobu mentally scolded himself.

He knew he should have improved in his Taijutsu but he thought that he can always rely on his team in doing that. Now he is alone and is a long range ninjutsu specialist. Sure, he has some knowledge in Taijutsu but the kids seem to be better than him, especially the blonde haired kid.

He is also running low on chakra and has tried multiple combo's to beat them but they either escaped, or their team helped or it doesn't work unless he has a team to distract them long enough. He is an earth element and he can't do any jutsu's other than earth. He starts to form seals again.

"Doton! Rock fall technique!"

A large piece of earth is gathered and then is moulded into a large rock. The rock then floats a little into the air and then starts to fall at the three Konoha Genins. At that same time, Naruto has finished with his plan.

"Alright, that damn rock is coming at us. Everything got the plan?" Naruto asks for confirmation.

Sasuke and Ino nodded and jumps away as the rock crashes where they were earlier. Naruto jumps to a tree and gathers chakra to his feet so that he is on the tree. He watch Sasuke hide behind a tree while Ino starts jumping from tree branch to tree branch. 'Good, everything according to plan.' Naruto thought.

Since that Naruto is the only visible on sight, the Rock Chuunin puts his attention on him. They are still quite far from each other and Nobu can see that the other two are nowhere on sight and quickly forms seals.

"Doton! Earth devouring technique!"

The tree starts to shake madly and Naruto looks at the base of the tree, finding the cause. The base of the tree is sinking into the ground, as if it was quicksand. Naruto quickly jumps off the tree and quickly forms seals.

"Fuuton! Scars of the wind!"

The area starts to get windy and Naruto aims it at Nobu. The wind starts to get stronger on Nobu and then, Nobu feels cuts on his arms. His eyes widen in surprise and realize what is happening. 'Shit, the wind is now like a bunch of kunai's!' Nobu thought, jumping behind a tree.

He can hear the tree being torn and when the technique ended, he comes out of his hiding place. He could not find Naruto anywhere. He looks at the tree and realizes there are about ten to fifteen large cuts on the bark of the tree. He can tell that technique was quite dangerous.

"Fuuton! Bleeding force!"

He hears the voice behind him and can recognize that jutsu. It is a high ranking wind technique and only those with the wind affinity can use that. Naruto spits out a large ball that is white in colour and it lands right below Nobu. Nobu's reactions are too slow so he uses his hand to try and defend himself and the ball explodes.

Luckily for him, Naruto only used a small amount of chakra. He remembered that he read from the scroll that Maki gave him that this technique is quite devastating. The area starts to get very windy and the wind is so strong that it is also cutting everything in its path.

When the technique finally ended, he sees the Rock Chuunin still alive but his Chuunin vest and shirt beneath the vest is torn to shreds, revealing his bare chest. He is panting lightly and he can see that his right hand suffered the most. It is filled with cuts and bruises and that is the result for trying to block that technique with your hands.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Nobu asked Naruto, gripping his right hand, "That technique is supposed to kill if hit directly."

"That is true," Naruto responds, "But I also have to be careful to not hit my team mates."

Upon hearing the word team mates, his eyes widened in horror. He completely forgot about them and is right on time when he saw a lot of shuriken and kunai's all coming at him from different directions. He quickly forms seals.

"Doton! Douryuheki no jutsu!"

He spits the earth below him and it is growing into a wall. The wall will help block the shurikens in front of him but not the one's behind him and his sides. He quickly runs up the wall but is a little too slow as he feels two shurikens plunging deep into his right thigh. The pain caused him to lose his chakra control and he falls back to the ground.

"Katon! Housenka no jusu!"

From above, he can see several fireballs coming right at him. With his right leg injured, he can't move properly. He jumps forward and then rolls to his left. He avoided most of them and the one coming right above him can easily be avoided when he felt something in his mind.

He didn't know what it was, but it somehow stopped him from functioning for about two seconds. It is as if something forced his brain to not give any commands to his body and when it finally stopped, he was too late as the fireball crashes onto his back, burning it severely.

He yells in pain but the attack is not going to stop. He feels thin ninja threads tying both of his feet. Despite the pain on his back, he quickly grabs a kunai to try and cut off the ninja threads but he was once again, too late.

He feels several kunai's plunged deep into his back. No, he is wrong. He can feel A LOT of them on his back. He can also feel red liquid pouring down his back like a river. He coughs out some blood, feeling his life slipping away. Three figures then landed right in front of him and he looks up at them.

"How... can three... mere Genins... beat me?" He asks softly as he is getting weaker by the second.

"That is easy. We are Konoha ninjas and Konoha ninjas are the best among the other five." Naruto answers proudly.

Nobu felt like punching the blonde kid but he is too weak. To his horror, he can feel someone landing right behind him. He looks at the Genins in front of him and he can see that they are shocked at the new arrival. Then, his mood brightened.

"Dawari, you came just on time." He said, coughing blood once more.

"Your Dawari is dead." The new comer answered coldly.

The answer was a shock to him. He knew that Dawari is one of the best Jounins in the Rock village. How can a simple mission end up with his death? He looks behind him and just looking at his pink hair, he can tell that Dawari really is dead.

"Sensei, you're hurt." Ino said worriedly.

"I'm okay. I am just a little tired but I will be okay. I admit though, that Dawari could have killed me but I am lucky to be alive." Maki replies. He looks at the Rock Chuunin below him and then at his students, "It seems you guys don't really need me after all."

Naruto gives a thumbs up, "Hell yeah!"

Maki sighs happily, "Finish him up and we can get back to Konoha."

"But sensei," Ino protested, "What about our mission?"

Maki smirks, "I've got that covered." He takes out the scroll from his back pouch and shows it to his students. They all nodded happily and Sasuke completed the deed, slicing the man's neck.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Four ninjas are walking down a path, all tired and also injured. Their injuries are light but still, the pain can be annoying. Maki's jaw still hurts like hell and he wonders if its broken. He hoped not.

As for the students, they are just suffering from minor cuts and bruises. Maki has to admit that he is proud that they are able to beat a Rock Chuunin and like he said earlier, it is all thanks to team work.

'Perhaps they are ready to join the exam that is occurring in a few weeks from now. Yeah, that should be a good idea.' Maki thought.

As for Naruto, he is happy to get back to Konoha to see his childhood crush. He can't wait to ask her for a date and hoped that he won't end up being a coward. No, he has already told himself that he will ask her to a date but is still debating whether he should confess his feelings for her. Maybe, maybe not.

**Hei, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Before you guys start saying that Fire Lance was too powerful, note that i already gave a lot of drawbacks and that it uses a lot of chakra. A quarter of Maki's chakra is like creating ten shadow clones so that is a lot. Also, he needs four seconds to do seals.**

**So yeah, please review.**


	12. An official date

**Alright, here is the update. I know some of you ask why he didnt Maki just finished Dawari with a simple kunai. I know, even I am asking myself that. Truth is, I just wanted an excuse to introduce his jutsu. Unlike Kakashi, he has no Sharingan. Since this Fire Lance and Raikiri are both alike, killing with one blow, Maki has to do it when the enemy cant move so I decided to do that.**

**I guess the only explanation is that he wanted to kill that guy badly? Haha, i really have no excuse.**

**ANyways, hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review.**

CHAPTER 12: AN OFFICIAL DATE

Two weeks have passed since team seven returned from that mission. The mission that is said to be actually a B-rank mission thanks to the unexpected arrival of the Rock ninjas. This kind of mistake for a ranking of a mission has never happened before but there is always a first time. After all, it was supposed to be a C-rank mission. The Rock ninjas just changed it thanks to them.

Currently in Konoha, the time is now seven in the morning and in the Haruno household, the sound of an alarm clock ringing can be heard. The person in the room groans and resisted the temptation of smashing the alarm clock. He would have but he thought it would be even more troublesome to buy another clock. Besides, his sister-in law will be angry at him for wasting money buying another alarm clock.

He shuts the alarm off and sits on his bed, yawning. He looks outside his window and can see the sun shining brightly. He looked away since it is too bright. He gets off his bed and decides to get his morning shower. He pulled a tower out of his drawer and wraps it around his shoulder. He opens the door of his room and walks out, making his way to the bathroom.

He can hear from the outside of the door of the bathroom that someone has already beaten him to it, the sound of water can be heard. He sighs and leans on the wall next to the bathroom door, waiting for whoever it was in the bathroom. He starts to remember the incident when they reported their mission two weeks ago.

Flashback

Team seven is walking in the hallways of the Hokage tower. The only reason why a person would use this hallway is to get to the Hokage's room. Team seven passed several people that work there. Maki recognized some of them since he has come to the Hokage's room for missions.

Although most ninjas that get missions have to go to the mission hall, some elite Jounin and ANBU can get missions where they receive solo missions or missions which require teaming up with other elite Jounins to complete the mission. Before Maki received his team, he mostly does that, taking solo missions most of the time.

He missed his old team mates from the academy but both have died on a mission. They died when he was a Chuunin and the two were put into another team with another Jounin. It was actually just a normal B-rank mission but according to the Jounin that survived the mission, some bandits ambushed them on the way back. He said that the bandits were trained in the arts of the ninja.

From that day on, he has developed a deep hatred for the bandits. That is why he never lets any bandits alive. Since there are a lot of bandits in the territory of fire country, he can never have revenge on the bandits that killed his team mates. So, he decided that he may as well kill any bandits that cross his path, claiming that all bandits are the one that killed his team mates.

They finally reach the Hokage's door and Maki steps forward, knocking on the door politely.

"Enter!" A voice commanded from the other side of the door.

Maki opens the door and walks in, along with his subordinates. They can see that the Hokage did not even look up to see who they are. He is busy reading a piece of paper. He then takes his pen and signs it on the bottom of the paper and then takes another piece of paper from a big stack of papers.

The Hokage inhales deeply from his pipe and looks up at them. Team seven can tell that he is surprised it was them.

"Ah, team seven. I can tell that your mission was successful?" Sarutobi asked.

Maki nods, "Hai, Hokage-sama." Maki then takes out the scroll that he got from that Rock Jounin and hands it to the Hokage, "We had some trouble on the mission though."

"Bandits shouldn't be a problem to a Jounin of Konoha." Sarutobi states, opening the scroll and reading the information written on it.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, but you are wrong on that." Maki said.

This caught the attention of the Hokage. He looks up from the scroll and into the eyes of the pink haired Jounin. Even Naruto, who knows the Hokage quite personally, has never seen the old man's expression. It has the expression of wanting an answer but also displeasure.

"What do you mean, Maki?" The Hokage asked, putting the scroll down on the table.

Maki clears his throat, "In the village where we were supposed to meet with the mist messenger, a team comprised of one Jounin and two Chuunin from the village of the Rock was there as well. They too, were looking for the mist messenger and successfully killed their target. However, we were able to get the scroll from them and successfully beat them."

The Hokage does not react to anything. He is looking intently at the pink haired Jounin. He rubbed his temples, "I see. I apologise for the inconvenience then. Facing Rock ninjas when all you have are inexperienced ninjas..."

"Please," Maki said suddenly, interrupting the Hokage, "With all due respect Hokage-sama, the Genins before me handled the situation well. They were able to take down a Rock Chuunin by themselves. They may be inexperienced but I can tell, they carry the will of fire."

The Hokage has a look of surprise, "Did they now? That is highly impressive to take down a Chuunin. From what I can tell, you have completed a B-rank mission and you did this when you only have the preparations of a C-rank mission."

"Oh yeah! We Rock!" Naruto yelled, punching the air.

His two other team mates just stood there, watching their blonde team mate making a fool of himself. He can be an idiot sometimes but also a genius at other times. However, he is a genius when it comes to fighting.

"What have I told you about manners, Naruto?" Maki scolded, hitting Naruto on the head.

Naruto rubs the place where he was hit, "That hurt. And you did not tell me much."

Maki cursed softly for Naruto answering like that. He can see from the corner of his eye that the Hokage is not pleased that Naruto is still rude in front of the Hokage. Of course, the Hokage used to tolerate Naruto but he is a ninja now and he must respect his superiors.

"Maki!" The Hokage said sternly, "I would like to speak with you. Alone. After your team leaves."

Maki gulped, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Now," The Hokage faced the Genins, "I will congratulate you for passing your first B-rank mission. I trust that you have gained some experience from this mission?"

All three nodded. "That is good then," The Hokage said, "You can get your pay for this mission at the mission hall. Now, you guys can leave but I have something to discuss with your sensei over here."

The three Genins bowed low. Of course, Naruto did not do so at first but Ino pushed his back to make him do so. They then left the office and they could hear the Hokage shouting at Maki. Naruto is chuckling rather loudly while the Uchiha just sighs. 'I wonder if he did this on purpose to Maki.' Sasuke thought.

Flashback ends

Maki can still remember the Hokage shouting at him for not teaching Naruto to respect the Hokage. It's not that he has not tried. That Naruto can be so hard to give a lecture sometimes. Maki is brought out of his thoughts when he heard the door of the bathroom opening.

It was his niece that came out of the bathroom. She is still drying her and she looks up at her uncle.

"Oh, good morning uncle Maki." She greeted, making her way to her room.

Maki simply grunted as his response. He is still in a bad mood for his stupid alarm clock so he is not much in a mood to talk with anyone yet. He closes the bathroom door behind him and locks it. He undresses himself and hangs his towel on the towel rack. He steps into the shower and switches on the shower.

He felt good when the water touched his body. However, the water is not as hot anymore. He cursed softly since he can tell who used almost all the hot water. He then starts scratching his head to clean his head.

After eight minutes, he switches the shower off and grabs his towel, drying his hair off. His long hair is starting to get on his nerves, taking the most time to dry it but he also liked his long hair for making him look cool. Well, actually, he used to think like that when he was a kid and he chuckled slightly when he realized that perhaps his mind has not yet matured.

After he dried himself, he wraps the towel around his waist and unlocks the bathroom door. He then makes his way to his room and locks the door behind him. He then simply dropped his towel to the floor and starts to look for his ninja outfit today. He does not have any missions for his team for about the next week since this week, 'that' is going to happen. He wonders if he should let then enter. They are strong and should be able to pass since they have team work.

He wears his Jounin vest and ties his back pouch to the back of his pants. He packs five custom kunai's into it and walks out of his room. He has to patrol the village today and although he hates that duty, at least it can bring in a small amount of money for his family. Well, actually it's his brother's family.

He makes his way to the dining room and can find that Sakura is already there, eating her breakfast. She is eating two pancakes and he can see that Suyuki is also cooking some pancakes for him. Maki takes a seat next to Sakura and he can see that she is dressed in her ninja attire.

"Hei, you don't have any missions, right?" Maki asks.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Sakura asks back, looking at her uncle.

Ignoring the question, he asks again, "Then how come you are dressed in your ninja attire?"

She looks down at her body, "What, it's nothing wrong with wearing it. Besides, I and Naruto-kun have to train later today so it saves me the trouble from changing outfit."

Maki can see from the corner of his eyes that Suyuki did not like hearing that her daughter will be training with Naruto. She still does not trust Naruto yet even though Maki has told her countless times that the kyuubi and he are different.

"Fine," Maki said, "I was just asking."

Suyuki then approached Maki and placed about three pancakes on his empty plate. Maki thanks Suyuki and starts eating his pancakes. He has to start his patrol at seven forty five and he has only got about fifteen minutes from now. Kotetsu will not be pleased for him to be late to take his shift. Kotetsu has been doing the patrol since three in the morning and he must be tired. Although Maki is higher in rank, he must be punctual to take his shift.

"I hope you won't have of those stupid missions for a long time." Suyuki said.

Maki glanced up and realized that she is talking to Sakura. He then looks at Sakura who has stopped eating, not wanting to hear this. Maki sighs softly. He knows what Suyuki means by that remark. Just like his team two weeks ago, Sakura just returned from a C-rank mission about five days ago to the wave country. However, the mission was more of an A-rank mission thanks to their client lying about the mission. Luckily for them, Asuma was able to beat their enemy, Zabuza, a missing ninja of the mist village, also a member from one of the seven swordsmen.

"Mom, I already told you that I was not hurt in the mission." Sakura replied, taking another spoon of the pancake.

Suyuki sighs, "Sometimes I wonder if you should continue being a ninja. I knew that your uncle here would be a bad influence."

"Mom!" Sakura replies in anger, "If dad and uncle Maki can become a ninja, why can't I? Besides, uncle Maki is a respectful ninja of Konoha and I want to be just like him."

"Your uncle is different! Your father died thanks to that demon kid and..."

Sakura did not let her mother finish her sentence. She simply gets up from her seat and walks out of the dining room. Maki just continued eating silently, not wanting to be a part of this. He remembered how he found out about the incident.

Flashback

Maki and Naruto are waiting outside the place where ninjas receive missions. They have just heard that Sakura and her team have returned from her first C-rank mission. Maki however, can tell that the C-rank mission must have been difficult since they spend about six days at the wave country when C-rank missions normally take only three days, five days at the most.

Naruto is pacing in front of Maki, impatient. The reason why they are here is so that Sakura and he can go train together. They have not been doing that for a while and Naruto miss training with his pink haired crush. Also, he did not have the guts to ask Sakura to a real date when he returned from their mission from the country of light. He instead received a lecture from Maki that he has to confess his feelings one day or it will destroy his heart.

He stopped pacing and Maki is brought out of his thoughts when team ten emerged from the mission hall. Maki smiled as he greeted team ten and Asuma greeted back. Shikamaru and Chouji continued walking, saying something about going to watch clouds with Chouji.

Naruto glances at Sakura and gives his famous foxy grin and Sakura smiled back.

"You have me worried, Sakura-chan. What took you so long?" Naruto asks, stepping closer with Sakura.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun. Our mission became an A-rank mission thanks to the stupid missing nin?" Sakura explained.

"What?" Naruto said, shocked, "You guys completed an A-rank mission?"

"Not intentionally. It was supposed to be a C-rank mission but the person that hired us lied to us. He said that he did not have the money to request for a mission higher than C-rank." Sakura explained again, remembering the man.

Naruto suddenly hugged her tight. It was so sudden that it caught Sakura by surprise and blushed heavily. However, the two Jounins did not notice this as they are deep in their conversation. Naruto then pulls away from the hug, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"I'm sorry; I just couldn't stand the thought of losing you." He said, apologising for the sudden hug.

Sakura giggles, "It's okay Naruto-kun." She then suddenly looked serious, "But you had better explain to me why you kept it to yourself!"

Naruto blinked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Sakura placed her hands on her hips, "Hokage-sama said that we were not the first team to be tricked into a mission where it is not a C-rank mission. He said that, team seven, your team, received a B-rank mission about eight days ago. I believe that was supposed to be your first C-rank mission."

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to keep it a secret but now his secret is out thanks to that old man.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't want you to be worried if you found out about my mission." Naruto explains.

Sakura smirks, "At least this proves one thing though."

"What?" Naruto asks, wondering what it proves.

"That I am better than you. I have already completed an A-rank mission while you only completed a B-rank mission." Sakura answered, laughing now.

Maki, finishing his conversation with Asuma watch his niece and his blonde student arguing with each other, giving reasons why they think they are better than the other. Maki laughs.

"You two look like a married couple arguing." Maki stated.

That shut the two up.

Flashback ends.

Maki finish eating his pancakes and gets up from his chair. Suyuki picked up his now empty plate and starts washing it. He leaves the dining room and realizes that he is going to be late. Quickly taking out his wallet and placing a certain amount of money on the table for Suyuki to use, he makes his way to the door.

He finds Sakura at the doorway, preparing to make her way out. She is already wearing her ninja sandals. Maki walks next to her and places a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Sakura; she just needs time to accept you become a ninja." Maki said, trying to reassure her.

"I just don't get it, uncle Maki. I mean, she is okay with you being a ninja but what's wrong with me?" She asks her voice in an angry tone.

Maki sighs, "It's just that you remind her of my brother, your father. You are the last thing she has that is still a part of him."

Sakura took the time to reply, "I know but she has to know that I am a ninja now."

Maki nodded, opening the door, "Anyway, I have to go now Sakura. Enjoy your day. I have to do the patrols before Kotetsu gets pissed off."

Maki then jumps up on a roof and starts making his way to meet Kotetsu. Sakura giggles at her uncle. He can sometime be like a loving brother to her. She has heard from her other friends that are not ninjas, the ones that failed the 'real' Genin test that their brothers can be annoying.

To Sakura, she has no brother but Maki is like a brother to her. And if that is how a loving brother is, she can tell the feeling. A person that will always love you and protect you from danger, no matter what. She closes the door behind her and starts to make her way to meet with her blonde haired crush.

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It is a busy morning today and even the Ramen stand is quite full. There are only two stools left and is reserved for their best customers. Well, actually one of them is their best customer. He just drags along his friend to eat with him so she is forced to eat with him.

Naruto is making his way to Ichiraku stand to meet up with Sakura. They have agreed to meet there everyday to spend some time together when not on missions before they do their training. Besides, he can also enjoy eating Ramen there so it is a win-win situation for him. Today however is a special day.

He plans to ask her to an official date today. He will also perhaps confess his feelings to her today. He is now thinking on what to say to her and how to start the topic. Naruto also realized that ever since Naruto became a ninja, most of the villagers have either start to respect him or decided to stop their glares at him. He hoped it was the former.

He finally reached his favourite Ramen stand and sits on the stool that is reserved for him and his pink haired friend. He can see that the old man and his daughter are too busy to notice him. They are busy taking orders from their other customers first and Naruto didn't mind since he has all the time.

It is strange, but Maki has told him and his team that they won't have any missions for the whole week. They have even received pay for a B-rank mission to help them survive for a week.

"Oh, you are already here, Naruto-kun." A voice he recognized said behind him.

He turns to face the voice, "You're on time, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiles and takes a seat next to him, "So, have you ordered your breakfast?"

Naruto shook his head, "I was waiting for you. Best to eat at the same time, right?"

Sakura nodded and the two Genins gave their order to the busy owner of Ichiraku Ramen stand. They had to wait longer than usual since Teuchi, the owner of the Ramen stand and his daughter are still busy attending to their customers. After waiting patiently for about ten minutes, their order finally arrived.

Naruto has ordered one extra large miso pork Ramen while Sakura simply ordered a regular bowl of chicken flavoured Ramen. The two picked up their own chopsticks, break it and say at the same time, "Itadikamasu!"

Naruto started to eat his Ramen at record speed. Heck, Naruto finished eating his large bowl of Ramen when Sakura only managed to just eat a quarter of hers. Sakura can never tell how Naruto can eat so fast. Naruto orders a refill of the same order and waits patiently, watching Sakura eat her bowl of Ramen.

He continues to look at her. Her eyes, her hair and everything that he just admires about her. He can never get tired of those green emerald eyes. 'Damn, she is so beautiful.' He thought dreamily.

Sakura, feeling that Naruto is staring at her, turns to face her blonde haired friend. He seems to not notice that she is looking back at him, his ocean blue eyes looking deep into her green emerald eyes. Sakura blushed lightly when she realised that Naruto is actually looking at her.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" She asks, waving her right hand in front of his face.

"You're so beautiful." He mutters. Of course, he did not mean for Sakura to hear that and Sakura blushes even harder, sweating nervously.

Naruto, realizing what he had said and that Sakura heard her snapped out of his daze. Sakura continues eating her Ramen, her blush not disappearing anytime soon.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan." He said when Teuchi hands him another large bowl of Ramen. Naruto starts eating, unable to believe that he told Sakura that she is beautiful. Well, to him, that is the truth but he is now starting to worry that this might end their friendship.

"Thanks." Sakura said when she swallowed her food.

Naruto turns to her, "What?"

"Thanks..." She repeats, "For the complement."

Naruto grins nervously, "Yeah, err... No problem. I guess..."

They continue eating once again in silence. Soon, the other customers left the Ramen stand until Naruto and Sakura are left. Naruto continues to order bowl after bowl and the two have not said anything since Naruto accidentally told Sakura she's beautiful.

However, Sakura still can't believe that Naruto blurted that out. 'Did he really think I am... beautiful?' She thought.

'**Hell yeah! You heard what he said? Perhaps he does have feelings for us?** Inner Sakura cheered happily.

'But what if uncle Maki told him to do this? Or maybe he was thinking of someone else? Or perhaps...' Sakura continues her rant to Inner Sakura.

'**Will you stop being such a negative girl? Naruto was looking at us because he thinks we are beautiful, damn it! What's so hard to believe that?' **Inner Sakura replies, getting frustrated.

'But...' Sakura starts to say.

'**Look, I am getting sick of this! Why can't you accept the fact that Maki said that he just wants to help. He did not say he is going to force Naruto. Maybe he knows that Naruto has feelings for us? Cha! That will be way better!' **Inner Sakura said.

'Uncle Maki...' Sakura corrected.

'**What?'** Inner Sakura asks, confused.

'You did not add 'uncle' for uncle Maki just now.' Sakura explains.

'**Ah, who cares?'** Inner Sakura snorts.

Before Sakura could scold her, she realized she is no longer facing her inner self but at Naruto. Naruto is shaking her shoulders with a worried expression on his face.

"Sakura-chan?! Are you okay?" Naruto asks, raising his voice.

Sakura shakes her head, trying to gather her focus, "Sorry, Naruto-kun. I was thinking of something."

Naruto breaths out in relief, "You scared me. I had to shake you hard before I got back your attention. You were starting to scare me."

Naruto then takes out his wallet, which is a green frog. Sakura always wondered why Naruto would choose such a weird wallet. The frog will look plump if Naruto has a lot of money and look, well, squashed if he is broke. Currently, his wallet is very, very plump.

Naruto hands the money to the old man and thanks him. Naruto and Sakura then walk around the busy streets of Konoha. They have to walk around before they do their training since this can help the food down to their stomachs. If they are going to immediately train, they just might throw up all the food they just ate.

They stopped by a ninja shop to buy some ninja equipments. Naruto had to buy some scrolls, saying that Maki is going to teach him certain seals to use. Maki also said he will introduce to Naruto an old 'friend' of his to help. He said that the man is very good in seals and this excites Naruto to no end.

As for Sakura, she is just buying the usual ninja tools, kunai's, shurikens and explosive tags. She did buy a scroll to store a demon shuriken she received from the mission at the country of wave. She said that the enemy's subordinate, known as Haku, used that weapon and Sakura collected it.

They then started talking about their unexpected high rank missions while they make their way to the training grounds.

"So you and your team fought the Rock Chuunin?" Sakura asks, impressed. She has heard that the Rock village are ruthless ninjas that give their enemies no mercy, especially towards Konoha ninjas.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. That guy was good a specialist in earth ninjutsu. Throughout the fight, he couldn't get us and we can't get him. We were like equals until we finally decided that he has to concentrate on something until he forgets the others."

"So you distracted him to make him forget about Ino and Sasuke." Sakura said, understanding his plan.

Naruto nods. Sakura rubs her chin, impressed that he can come up with such a simple plan to beat a tough ninja. "And how about my uncle? Where was he?"

"Oh, he had to fight a Rock Jounin. That Rock Jounin was good. He was fast and seems to favour close combat but also good in ninjutsus." Naruto answers.

"I see." She simply said back. She was glad that both Naruto and her uncle made it back safely. When she heard the Hokage said that Naruto had to fight without her uncle to oversee the fight, she was immediately worried.

"So, Sakura-chan, can you tell me about your mission? I want to know how your mission went." Naruto said, hoping to continue the conversation.

"My mission? Well..." Sakura begins to think about it.

"Please?" Naruto begs.

Sakura laughs at his tactics, "Fine, since you asked properly. Our client, Tazuna, is a bridge builder for the country of the wave. He is targeted by a man named Gatoh since Tazuna might stop Gatoh's income by building a bridge."

"How can a bridge stop this Gatoh's income?" Naruto asks.

"Gatoh makes a living by transporting citizens using ships. Of course, Tazuna said that Gatoh really gets his income by doing illegal things but anyway, Tazuna is the one person that can stop Gatoh so he assigns Zabuza, a missing mist ninja to kill him. Since we have to protect Tazuna so Zabuza has to pass us. We killed him when he appeared during our way to the wave country. After we killed him..."

"Wait," Naruto interrupts, "Who killed him?"

"Asuman-sensei of course. Our team cannot stand against a Jounin like Zabuza." Sakura said.

"Oh." Naruto simply said, not having any other ideas what to say.

"Anyway," Sakura continues with her story, "We have to then guard Tazuna for the next five days, protecting him from Gatoh's mercenaries. We were attacked every hour but we were able to fend them off. On the last day, when the bridge is nearly complete, a boy, perhaps three years older than us, appeared and fought us. Asuma had to fight the mercenaries Haku brought with him so the three of us had to fight Haku. Haku was really angry that we killed his teacher and he almost killed Chouji but thanks to Shikamaru's quick thinking, he was able to stop him and well.... I and Chouji killed him." Sakura said, shivering. She did not like the thought of taking a life.

Naruto places his hand on her shoulder to reassure her, "You and Chouji had to do what was necessary, Sakura-chan. It is the way of the ninja. It is either you kill him or be killed by him."

Sakura hugs Naruto tightly, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto is blushing madly and in his mind, he is going to have to thank Maki for this. After all, the words he used to assure Sakura almost the exact same thing that he told him and his team when they killed the bandits.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, pushing away from the hug.

Sakura looks at him, "Yeah?"

Naruto scratches his head nervously, "Erm... Would you like... to... go out... with me... tonight?"

Sakura is shocked. This was something that she had hoped he would ask her everyday since she fell for him. "You..." She stutters, "You mean... like..a... da-date?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. I mean, if you don't want to..."

"Of course!" She answers immediately.

"So, I'll pick you up at seven?" He asks, gulping loudly.

Sakura simply nodded, not trusting her voice.

Naruto smiles and the two did not know what to do know. Of all the times he had to ask her, he chose the time when they can't escape from one another since they still have to train with each other. This is going to be a long day.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside the great green gates of Konoha, five people are staring at the green gate. Two of them are adults, one a male and the other female. The other three are children, one wearing a black outfit which covers almost everything but his face. The other is a blonde female and the last one, slightly shorter than the other two. He has red hair and has a weird looking gourd on his back.

"We are finally here." The male said with no emotion in his voice.

"Yeah," The female adult said, looking at the green gates, "This really brings back memories."

"You know this is part of the mission." The man said, looking at his female team mate. He still did not trust her completely since she did not really want to be part of this mission.

The woman nods, "Don't worry, Baki-san. I have already put the past behind me. My loyalty lies to the sand village."

Baki looks at her suspiciously before they make their way into the gates of Konoha. They had to introduce themselves to the guards of Konoha and the guards allowed them in.

"We have been expecting you." The guard said.

The five of them left the guard alone. The guard seem to recognized the woman but he couldn't place his finger on it. He also felt one thing that scared him. He could feel a large killer intent coming out of the kid with red hair. Throughout his ninja career, never has he felt such a large amount of killing intent. It actually scared him

"That woman doesn't look so bad, eh?" Another guard asks, nudging his friend.

The man did not answer. He wonders why the sand village can produce such a powerful and yet beautiful kunoichi.

But what is really troubling him is the large amount of killing intent he felt. The only thing he can tell himself is that he DEFINITELY does not want to get on that kid's bad side.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sun is already beginning to set and Maki is making his way to the Hokage's room to report for his patrol. He was supposed to end his duty and one in the afternoon earlier but the person to take over his shift was sick and he decided that he may as well continue the patrol. It was odd, but he actually enjoyed doing patrols. That is definitely a first.

'Oh well, at least I also get extra pay.' Maki thought happily.

As he continues his journey to the Hokage office, he met someone he has not seen for sometime. An old friend of his. The man who is always reading that damned perverted book.

"Kakashi!" He greets the Jounin.

Kakashi looked up from his book and waves back. He placed his book back into his back pouch. He only does this when he is going to start a conversation, and only when he is close to that person. He only does this when he is talking to the Hokage, Maki and anyone that is far superior to him, such as the legendary Sannin. The one's he used to do this are to his old sensei, the fourth Hokage.

"Hei, Maki. What brings you here?" He asks when they reached each other.

Maki grumbles, "I have to report to the old man on my patrols. Nothing interesting really."

"You really should show some respect, even behind his back. I heard you got scolded badly for not teaching Naruto manners." Kakashi warns Maki.

Maki laughs nervously, "Yeah, I remember that too well."

"I also heard you took out Dawari, the Rock Jounin?" Kakashi asks.

Maki nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Kakashi sighs, "I might be lazy, but you don't know about this Dawari guy, do you?"

"Not really."

"Dawari, he is the fourth best Jounin in the rock village and is also a specialist in close combat fights. Unlike Gai, he is not a specialist in Taijutsu. Just close combat, as in fights with Kunai." Kakashi explains.

Maki narrows his eyes, "Hei, I am not that dumb you know?"

Kakashi laughs, a sight rarely seen, "Right, right."

"By the way, how is the training with Sasuke?" Maki asks, curious,

"Oh, he is good. I am going to start improving in his fire techniques since that is what the Uchiha clan are famous for. He is also close to unlocking the secret of the Sharingan." Kakashi said.

Maki nodded, "Well, if you will excuse me, Kakashi, I have to go and report to the old man."

Kakashi nodded and starts to make his way out of the Hokage tower, taking out his orange perverted book. The last thing Maki heard from his friend is his giggling and Maki couldn't help but chuckle.

When he reached the door of the Hokage, he politely knocks on the door. As usual, the old man's voice commanded him to enter which he did. When he opened the door, he is quite surprised to find both Asuma and Kurenai there.

The two are leaving a gap so Maki takes the place between them, filling the gap. He looks at Asuma who is also looking at him. Maki then looks at Kurenai who is ALSO looking at him. Confused, he turns to face the Hokage.

"What's going on?" Maki asks, confused.

"Since you three are Jounins with Genins this year, I am sure you should know what I am going to tell you?" Sarutobi asks, putting his pipe into the drawer.

All three Jounins nodded.

"Then, will you be entering your teams to the Chuunin exams?" He asks, looking at all three Jounins one by one.

Maki steps forward, "I think my team is ready."

Asuma and Kurenai follows suit, "Us too."

Sarutobi nodded, "Then, I am sure you should know what you have to do at the Jounin's resting area at precisely seven in the evening."

"You mean the others are already in Konoha?" Maki asks, not wanting to do that in an hour.

Sarutobi nodded, "You will have to meet up with the others and find out about their students."

Asuma releases a puff of black smoke, "This is going to be so troublesome."

Maki smirks, "I think one of your student is rubbing off on you."

"You three are excused. But I expect to see the three of you there by seven thirty." Sarutobi said sternly.

The three Jounins bowed and left the Hokage's room. Maki grumbled, not wanting to meet with strangers in an hour. He remembers the last time he did that when he entered his students for the Chuunin exams. It was so boring.

He glances back at the two other Jounins who are walking quite close to each other. Maki raises an eyebrow, "Are you two a 'thing' now?"

Asuma and Kurenai blushed, quickly moving away to give each other some space. Maki gave a knowing grin, "Thought so."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura is now in her room, fixing her hair. She is quite nervous as the time is approaching seven. She is wearing a simple black shirt with blue jeans. She is going to be wearing a very beautiful set of shoes that her mother gave her last year. She continues fixing her hair, hoping to impress Naruto tonight by looking beautiful, like he told her earlier.

Even from here, she can hear someone knocking the door on the front door of their house. She quickly ran out of her room and to the front door. Before she opens the door, she fixes her outfit and hair one more time before opening the door for Naruto.

The moment Naruto saw her, his jaw almost hit the ground. He admit that she is beautiful when she is just in her normal ninja attire, but now, she is dead gorgeous. He didn't know what to say and continued to look at her.

As for Sakura, she admit that Naruto looked even more handsome now. Without his headband, he allowed his blonde hair free and some of his bangs were covering his eyes which made him look even more handsome and in a weird way, more like the fourth Hokage.

"You look... Wow, Sakura-chan." Naruto finally said.

Sakura giggles, "You don't look so bad yourself, Naruto-kun."

"Well, shall we go?" Naruto asks, stepping back from the porch.

She nodded and faces the inside of the house again, "I'm going now mom!"

"Okay! Just be back by ten at the most." Her mother yells from the kitchen.

She then closed the door behind her and starts walking next to Naruto, wondering where he is going to be bringing her. She is also happy that her mother finally accepted that she didn't mind Naruto bringing her for a date. Her mother said that perhaps she can get used to the boy and actually said she will have to get used to her future son-in law. Even Sakura herself has not yet thought of that far but then again, she didn't mind being called '.'

Naruto finally reached their destination, which is an expensive seafood restaurant. The restaurant is a good way for couples as she has heard from her mother that her father actually proposed to her here.

"Naruto, how can you afford such a place?" She asks, looking at the restaurant.

"Hei, I might be a twelve year old boy but I have money from my missions." Naruto joked.

They entered the restaurant and the waiter led them to a table overlooking the great Konoha river. It is really romantic and the place where they are sitting is quite dark. After they ordered their meals, Naruto and Sakura started making small chat and Sakura was really enjoying herself.

"Sakura, you really look beautiful tonight." Naruto complemented Sakura.

Sakura blushes, "Thanks Naruto, that coming from a friend."

Naruto frowns, "Sakura, I... How do I say this? I want... to be... more than... you know? Friends.."

Sakura gasped. She did not expect this from him. She did not know what to say. She had never expected Naruto to actually have the same feelings for her.

"Naruto... I would like... to give that a try." Sakura said.

Naruto smiles and placed one of his hand on top of Sakura's hands. They looked at each other in the eyes but their moment was ruined when the waiter arrived and handed them their food. They actually spent so much time eating and talking with each other, enjoying themselves that they did not realize that it was already ten fifty at night when they finally paid the bill.

"Oh geez, my mom is going to kill me if I don't get back home." Sakura said worriedly.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." Naruto suggested and she quickly agrees.

During the walk home, she walked close to him, making sure to feel and remember all of the body warmth they are sharing. Sadly, they were enjoying so much that the whole trip back to Sakura's house was just like a minute when seven minutes have actually passed.

"Alright, I guess I will see you tomorrow, Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

"Yeah, thanks for tonight, Naruto-kun. I really enjoyed tonight." Sakura said, thanking him.

Naruto nodded and starts to make his way home when he felt something warm on his cheek. He realized that Sakura gave him a peck on the cheek and when he finally turned to face her, he realized that the door to Sakura's house has already closed.

He felt the cheek where she kissed him and he stood there, looking at the door for almost a minute when he started making his way home. 'Man, I am never going to wash that part of my face again.' He thought.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**While Sakura and Naruto went to their date at seven, this was what was happening with Maki.**

Maki is now just leaning against the wall, bored out of his mind as he watched the other Jounins talking with each other. He never wanted to be a part of this and is starting to regret for entering his students for the Chuunin exam.

"I heard a Konoha Jounin have taken out Dawari of the Rock?" A sand ninja asked Asuma.

"Yeah, that's him over there." Asuma points towards Maki.

Maki ignored the glare that is being given to him by that sand Jounin who has his face covered by a cloth. He wondered what it that he is hiding was. Perhaps he has lots of hideous scars just like that interrogator expert, Ibiki.

"So, you are the ninja known as The Replicator... Haruno Maki..." A female voice said.

Maki turned to face the voice and when he faced her, he lost the ability to talk.

"You..." He mutters.


	13. Registration for the Chuunin exams

**Hei! here is the update. I will be going to KL in 3 days now and I will try to update one more chapter before leaving. I just hope I can try and update while I am there since I will be VERY busy. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and please review. I realized i did not do my disclaimer past few chapters but you should get the idea that i definitely do not own Naruto.**

CHAPTER 13: REGISTRATION FOR THE CHUUNIN EXAM

The great village of Konoha finally has the sun to shine once again after great hours of darkness. Of course, most of the inhabitants would have preferred the darkness so that they can continue to rest in their soft comfy bed. However, asking that to happen is like the Hokage to lose to a mere Genin. Well, with the exception of Naruto thanks to his sexy jutsu, that is impossible.

Sakura is awoken by the sound of birds chirping. She opened her eyes and looked at the birds resting by a tree near her window. She looks at her alarm clock and it is still six forty five in the morning. Her alarm clock will start making noise in fifteen minutes so she deactivates the alarm. She kicks her blanket off of her body and makes her way to her table filled with items such as combs, hair dryer and other beauty products.

She looks at the mirror and looks at her reflection. Her hair is all messy and her night gown is almost the same. She sighs softly. This is how it is almost every morning. She is thankful that she never once in her life slept in since her mother will always check up on her and if her mother forgot, her uncle, who always has to wake up early and will check Sakura from time to time.

She grabs a pink towel and makes her way to the bathroom. When she left her room, the Haruno household is still quite dark and silent. Her mother is probably preparing breakfast downstairs and if she is done, she would be hanging clothes outside to dry. That is her mother's daily routine.

She enters the bathroom and locks the door behind her. Hanging the towel by the towel rack, she starts to undress. She didn't know when she started, but she started to wonder how it would feel if it was Naruto that is undressing her.

'Damn it, I have to stop with all these perverted thoughts.' Sakura thought, stepping into the shower.

'**You are such a spoil sport!'** Inner Sakura said.

Sakura immediately shuts the connection with her inner. She did not want to deal with her stupid perverted inner right now. She wants to enjoy the hot steaming water on her developing body. She starts to wash her long hair. She giggles when she realized that she and her uncle have almost the same length of hair, only her uncle is messier than she. 'That is typical for a male without a female to guide them.' Sakura thought.

Sakura has always wondered if her uncle has any interests in the opposite sex. She can tell that he is attractive and that many of her friends have said so. She has even heard that other female adults, even her mum's friends would constantly ask him out and her uncle would just refuse. She started to think that he is gay but she quickly shoved that thought out. There's no way that he's gay!

She spends almost fifteen minutes in the shower to make sure she is all clean. Unlike her uncle, who spends about only seven minutes at the most, she wants to be clean. She wonders if all males are like that. She never wanted to ask her mother about her father's way of life since it would bring back painful memories. Her uncle however, does not seem troubled by the topic of his brother brought up.

"He died as a ninja defending his home. That is one of the best ways a ninja would want his life to end, dying while defending your home." Her uncle would say.

Of course, her mother had said the reason why her uncle felt no remorse is because he did not love his brother. She did not know which to believe. How can a person not love your own sibling? Sure, brothers and sisters would always have fights with each other but they will always come back together since they are family.

She is already starting to get a headache from all these thoughts and quickly pushed those thoughts away. She will never know much about her father since her mother refuses to say anything about him and she doesn't know whether to believe her uncle what he said about her father is true since her mother said that most are not true.

She opens the bathroom door and walks out, still drying her hair and another towel wrapped around her body. She forgot to bring in her outfit for the day today. She is quite surprised that her uncle is not waiting for her to use the bathroom. He is normally grumbling next to the bathroom's door, saying that he waited long enough. She shrugged the thought off and continues drying her hair while walking to her room.

When she locked the door of her room, she drops her towel to the floor and opens her wardrobe, picking her outfit for the day. She decides to wear a pink long sleeve shirt but the shirt is quite short, revealing her belly button. 'Well, at least that will get Naruto's attention.' She thought cheekily.

She then wears her usual black tights but she is also now wearing a pink skirt over it. She then starts to comb her hair, making sure that her hair is properly combed. Once that is done, she ties her Konoha headband on her head. She checks herself out in the mirror and it does make her look pretty, or as Naruto said, beautiful. She winks at herself in the mirror and walks out of her room and makes her way to the dining room for some breakfast to satisfy her empty stomach.

Her breakfast for today is a bowl of her favourite cereal which just takes up about four minutes to finish. She looks at the clock in the dining room and it is already seven twenty in the morning and her uncle is still not yet seen. She is starting to get worried and decides to check up on him. 'Maybe he's sick today?' She thought.

She makes her way upstairs and to her uncle's room. She knocks on the door three times and gets no response. Now she is starting to get worried and being polite, knocks on the three more times.

"Uncle Maki, are you in there?" She asks, loud enough for a person to hear from the other side of the door.

She got nothing but silence. She tries to turn the door knob, expecting it to be locked but to her surprise, it isn't. She slowly opens the door and takes a peek inside the room. She has never really been into his room since he did not allow her to do so. She of course, respected her uncle's wishes but today, she is going to have to break that rule out of concern for him.

Since she was young, she knew that her uncle is the messy type but his room completely surprised her. His room is all neat and tidy. Then again, there aren't really a lot of things in his room to make his room messy. There is only a bed, a drawer and two tables. One of the table is next to his bed with three picture frames and the other table is filled with ninja equipments such as his back pouch and also three of his unique kunai's.

"Uncle Maki?" She calls him softly.

Maki is on the bed, sitting down on it. He is looking outside the window, which is next to his bed. He seems to be lost in thought. Sakura slowly approaches him, calling him three times when she finally reached him. He did not even turn to look at her. Before she touched him, she looked at the picture on his table to next his bed.

She recognized one of the pictures. It is her uncle with his current team with Naruto by his side. The other picture is again her uncle but she can tell that he was younger at that time with three more children. She recognized one of them, a Chuunin of Konoha but she can't seem to place his name on it. She then looks at the last picture.

The last picture is three teenage kids, probably around fifteen or sixteen. There are two males with their hands wrapped around each other shoulders while a female, who is most likely kneeling, in front of them. She is kneeling so that the camera does not block the males.

The two males are both having pink hair. She can tell that the taller one is perhaps nineteen or twenty. Both males are good looking and the two seem really happy with each other, like best friends. The taller one has short pink hair and is wearing a Jounin vest while the shorter one, his long pink hair tied in a ponytail. The two are both laughing.

The female is beautiful, around the age of fifteen. She has long brown hair and is wearing a black kimono. She has her eyes closed and smiling, showing her teeth. The three looked really happy with each other.

"That picture was taken around fourteen years ago." Maki said suddenly, turning to face Sakura.

Sakura looks at her uncle with a questioning look. She looks back at the picture.

"The one that has his hair in a ponytail is me. I was still a Genin at that time and the other one with short hair is Hanaki, my brother, your father." Maki said, smiling as he stares at the picture with Sakura.

Sakura gasps, "My father?"

Maki nodded, "He was promoted a Jounin on the day that picture was taken. We were celebrating for his promotion."

"Who is the girl?" Sakura asks, pointing at the brown haired girl.

Maki hesitated, "An old friend of me and your father. Her name is Himura and was once a Konoha ninja."

"Was?" Sakura asks, looking at her uncle.

Maki looks like as he is going to tear up and Sakura knew that it is a touchy subject. She just hugs her uncle and he hugs back, starting to cry silently. 'So, is she the one that uncle Maki told us that had his heart?' Sakura thought.

"I am okay, Sakura and thanks. You should go and meet Naruto soon. I just, need some time to think." Maki said.

Sakura nodded and left her uncle alone in his room. She wondered why would he need time to think. I mean, it must have been a long time since he last seen her so why would he want to think about it now? However, it is not her position to do anything so she just walks out of her house, hoping to meet Naruto.

Maki looks outside the window again, looking at the Hokage tower. He starts to think back of the event when he met her yesterday.

Flashback

"You..." Maki mutters, not knowing what else to say.

The woman smiled, "It's good to see you again, Maki-kun."

Before Maki knew it, she hugged him tightly. Maki is too confused to do anything and did not hug back, trying to think of what is actually happening right now. Can this really be the woman that he thought would never be seen again that held his heart?

Himura pulls out from the hug, "Don't tell me that you don't remember my name anymore, Maki-kun?"

Maki smiles, "How can I forget your name? Hajime Himura."

Now Himura smiles, "I'm glad that you still remember my name after all these years."

"Indeed. It's about, what? Fourteen years?" Maki asks.

Himura nodded, "And you have changed a lot. Your hair is now longer than what I remember."

Himura looks at the man standing in front of him. He has indeed grown and is taller than what she remembers. Then again, she too has grown but he is now about a foot taller. He is also better looking than what she remembered. Perhaps all those gossips she got from those women at the village were true. He is indeed more handsome and no doubt more of the women would try to get him.

While Himura is admiring him, Maki is also checking her out. The two have grown taller, that is no doubt. She is more beautiful from what he remembered and is better developed. She has also an hour glass figure and her long brown hair suits her well. She is definitely the woman that has got his heart all those years ago.

"So, how have your life been in the sand village?" Maki asks, wanting to start a conversation.

"It's a hard life," She replies, sighing, "I will admit, that it was easier to become a Jounin there. There are not many strong ninjas in the sand village but those that are gifted are very strong. It's more like if you are strong, you are to the extreme but if you are weak, you are very weak. That's how it is in the sand village and the weak ninjas are more compared to the strong ones."

"So, you are one of the top ones?" Maki asks. He remembers that Himura is one Kunoichi that you don't want to fight.

Himura shrugs, "One of them at least. But I'm not sure if I am even in your league anymore."

Maki laughs, "I'm not that good, you know? Those stories that people talk about are exaggerations."

Himura raises an eyebrow, "Well, then I would have to say that those exaggerations are more true than exaggerations. After all, since you were young, you have always been gifted in the use of the shadow clones."

"Where have you heard of my nickname?"

"From a lot of people. On my missions, I hear from villagers of both top Jounins of Konoha. The copy ninja and the replicator."

"Also," She continues, "As you know, the sand village, unlike the leaf village, are not so hostile with the Rock village and I have partnered up with that Dawari guy before. He is strong and hearing that you actually beat him really impresses me."

"I did not beat Dawari." Maki lied.

"Tell that to what most people say." Himura snorts.

Maki laughs, "You really must stop listening to all those rumours, Himura. A guy like me, beating the number four Jounin of the Rock? That's not like me, Himura."

Himura pouts, "Where's the –chan?"

Maki laughs, "It's been too long that I have already forgotten to add that. If it would please you, please accept my apologies, Himura-chan."

Maki then bows his head and the two laughs, remembering old times. They have always been close to each other although Maki have always wanted to be more than that. Of course, they are not the only ones talking. The other Jounins are also laughing and talking with each other, some old friends or some befriending new Jounins from another village and sharing experiences.

Suddenly, the door of the Jounin resting room opened and the Hokage enters the room, followed by two ANBU black opts. Everyone in the room kept their mouth shut, looking at the new comers. The Hokage walks to the centre of the room and the Jounins form a circle, preparing to hear what the Hokage wants to say. The Hokage breathes out a puff of smoke.

"He still has not change, has he?" Himura whispers to Maki.

Maki just shook his head.

"Good evening everyone," The Hokage starts, "I hope that you are so far enjoying your stay in Konoha. As you should all know, the Chuunin exams will begin in precisely three days from now and the registration forms for your students will be in the administration office on the ground floor in the Hokage's tower. Now, I know that most of you are here with your students but those that have come here to accompany your comrade; you can choose to stay in Konoha but you will have to pay for your accommodations. The ones with students, we will provide them with a certain amount of money and a place to stay. Now, are there any questions?"

The only thing that greeted the Hokage is silence. Most of the ones that are here have experience with students so this is not new for them. They have nothing to ask and the Hokage nodded.

"As the host, I will have to introduce my village's Jounins with students. There are three this year." The Hokage tells the foreign Jounins.

He then points to Kurenai, who is next to Asuma, "That is Yuuhi Kurenai, a newly appointed Jounin. Her team are more of trackers but are also quite dangerous."

The Hokage then looks at his son, "That is Asuma Sarutobi."

Everyone that heard his name looked at Asuma. Some gasped, some are now whispering among another and others just stayed silent.

The Hokage continued, "I am sure you have heard that he has taken out the missing mist ninja, Zabuza a few days ago. Now you can see how he looks like and should know how his skills influence his team."

The Hokage then glances at Maki, "That is Haruno Maki. Some of you perhaps know him as The Replicator. He is one of our elite Jounins, just like Asuma is and just two weeks ago, has taken out Dawari of the rock. Now, you should also know that his team took out Dawari's team mate, a ninjutsu specialist of the Rock by the name of Nobu."

Everyone looks at Maki who is scratching his head nervously. He did not like the glares that the other Jounins are giving him and especially from Himura. He can feel pain on his left feet and he looks at his foot. Another person is stepping his foot and he realize that it is Himura.

"And you said that you did not beat Dawari."

Maki shrugs, "I could have got away with it if it wasn't for the Hokage."

"Now," The Hokage said again, "I hope you will get to know each other and enjoy your stay in Konoha. I will have to go now."

With that, the Hokage makes his way out of the Jounins resting place. All of the Jounins starts talking with each other but some of the ones that are jealous are looking at both Asuma and Maki.

Himura yawns softly, covering her mouth, "I really have got to get my beauty sleep. Travelling from the sand village to the leaf really took me out."

"Would you like me to walk with you?" Maki offered.

Himura cups his cheeks which caused Maki to blush lightly. She leans in closely up to his ears, "You are really sweet, Maki. You still like to push your luck but I can take care of myself."

Maki nodded and Himura starts to leave. She purposely swayed her hips too much to make Maki suffer. She left the room and starts to make her way to the inn. 'I'm sorry Maki, but I just can't hurt you when my mission will hurt you too much if you find out.' Himura thought.

End of Flashback

Maki sighs at the memory. He needs to talk with her again but he forgot to ask where she is living. There are lots of hotels and inn's in Konoha so he won't know where to search for her. He just hoped he can meet her one last time before the end of the Chuunin exams.

Maki looks at the clock in his room and it is already eight five in the morning. He does not have any duties in Konoha today but he has to train both Naruto and Sakura after lunch. He is happy for them. He heard from Sakura that the two have admitted their feelings for each other. Now all he has to do is make sure they stay together until they are married.

He looks at the picture taken fourteen years ago. He smiles at the picture. He then decides to go train at the training grounds to improve his use of shadow clones and find new ways to confuse enemies. He takes his back pouch and puts about ten of his unique kunai's inside. He walks out of his room and then makes his way to the front door, looking forward for his training.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You will do this for the sand village!" Baki yells, "He is no longer your friend, not even a comrade in battle. He is just a relic in your past and you have to forget him. Besides, he is just a friend, not your lover or..."

"Stop!" Himura shrieks, "Don't go there Baki, or I will kill you!"

The two then remained silent. They are currently in Himura's room at an inn near Konoha's gates. They are discussing on their top secret mission, or to put it correct, Himura's mission.

"Himura-san, I am sorry and apologise. But, you know what you have to do. You have to gain his trust, even better if you try and make him fall in love with you."

"Making him fall in love is not a problem," Himura replies, "He has always been in love with me. I just never returned it."

"Then that shouldn't be a problem." Baki said with no emotion, "I have to leave Konoha today and report to Kazekage-sama. But remember Himura, gather information on his abilities, all of his abilities and how he fights. We have to know the abilities of one of the top Jounins of Konoha."

"And what about the copy ninja?" Himura asks, looking at Baki in the eye.

"We are also doing that. Don't worry, our mission will be successful."

With that, Baki left the woman alone. He left the room and Himura now let out her sorrow. She is a ninja and a strong one too but she just couldn't control her emotions at times like this. She does not want to hurt a friend, her best friend in such a bad way. She does not know how it feel to be rejected by your loved one as she has always been accepted by Kawada but she has heard from friends that it is a feeling that makes you want to die. If she hurts Maki again if he finds out, it will be too much.

She may not have any feelings for him, but he has for her. He does not want to hurt him. She has already hurt him when she left Konoha without saying goodbye to him the last time and now, this mission, it is just too much. But she is a kunoichi of the Sand village and she will have to do what is requested of her.

"I'm sorry, Maki-kun," Himura sobs in her pillow, "But my loyalties to the sand village will have to come first."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In a busy street in Konoha, two members of team ten are walking together but them going in a different direction. They just met while walking to their own destinations when they saw each other and thought it was better to walk with each other.

Shikamaru and Sakura are laughing as they share a joke and talking about their last mission. They are also talking about their A-rank mission a few days ago which was pretty scary for them since they are just Genins but they came through thanks to team work.

"I can't believe we were able to actually take out a Mist ninja that is a Jounin level." Sakura said.

"Yeah, but Asuma-sensei did most of the work. We just had to protect that Tazuna guy. We just had to free Asuma-sensei from that water prison when Zabuza caught him." Shikamaru responds, looking at the clouds above him.

"Yeah and it is all thanks to your quick thinking." Sakura said.

Shikamaru shrugs, "It was troublesome but I didn't want to die."

Sakura rolls her eyes, "Almost everything is troublesome for you."

Before Shikamaru could reply, they could hear someone crying for help. They realized that it is coming from their left which is a path where not many people use. It is an old road and also it is the old path they use to get to the market place. The new path which Sakura and Shikamaru are using is the new one but the cries for help are coming from the old path.

"We should go check it out." Sakura suggested.

Shikamaru grumbles but follows Sakura as they continue to try and follow the source of the voice. They finally found the cause of it. They can see three small children, around the age of maybe nine or ten are being threatened by two kids, around Sakura's age, maybe a year older or so, standing in front of the kids.

Shikamaru can see that they are wearing a headband belonging to the sand village. One is a blonde girl and has her hair into four ponytails of some sort and the other is wearing a black outfit which covers everything but his face and wearing purple make up on his face. The two Sand ninjas have some sort of equipment on the back of them but the difference is that the male has his equipment in bandages.

"You had better watch where you are running kid!" The male one scolded.

"We were just playing and..." The boy with spiky hair said his voice a little shaky.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your lame excuse!" The guy said again.

"Hei, don't cause trouble with Konoha civilians." The blonde companion warned.

The boy with make-up smirks, "Maybe I should teach this kid a lesson to watch where he is going."

The boy with make-up then grabs the boy with spiky hair by the collar, pulling him to his eye level. He looks at the boy in the eye, his left arm pulled back for a punch, "Maybe this will teach you to be careful next time."

The guy then starts the punch but when his fist is half way to the small boy's face, he suddenly stopped, his hand shaking.

"What the hell? My body... I can't... move." The guy said and he lets go of the boy.

"Shadow mimic technique, success." Shikamaru said, smiling.

The boy that Shikamaru caught with his technique glares at Shikamaru angrily, still trying to move his body but only able to shake a lot. Shikamaru is also struggling to keep with the technique. 'Shit, this guy is pretty strong.' Shikamaru thought.

"What the hell did you do to me?" The boy said, still trying to move.

"Kankurou, I already warned you not to mess with these Konoha brats." The blonde girl said, sighing.

"Just shut up and help me!" The boy yelled, frustrated that his body cannot move.

The woman sighs once more and takes out her weapon on her back which is somehow a large fan. Sakura is quite surprised at the size of the fan and starts doing seals to cast a genjutsu until she spotted something. She can see what it is and stops her seals, smiling.

"What are you...?" The blonde woman starts to say

"Hei, don't you know it is not nice to start a fight with ninjas in their home town?" A voice said.

The blonde girl can feel a sharp metal object pressed on her back. The blonde girl does not look back, gritting her teeth, "When did you get behind me?"

Naruto smiles, "You should come out now." Naruto said, ignoring her question.

All four ninjas wondered what he was talking about since there is no one else here. However, the two Sand ninjas suddenly felt the large killing intent coming out and they immediately started trembling, especially the male known as Kankurou.

"So," A calm voice, "You knew I was here?"

Naruto did not react. He just stood there with his kunai pressed on the girl's back, "Your killing intent is a dead giveaway."

Suddenly, behind Kankurou and the blonde girl, a large amount of sand appears. Then, a boy appears. Sakura feels her knees getting weaker by the feeling of the killing intent coming out of the boy. Naruto looked at the new comer, a boy with red hair and a gourd behind his back. The two look at each other, eye to eye, releasing the same amount of killing intent. Naruto was surprised that he can release such a large amount.

The boy with red hair then turn to face Kankurou's back, "Kankurou, Temari, what did I say about causing trouble with Konoha?"

"It's not our fault, Gaara," The blonde girl said, giving the excuse, "They started it and they..."

"Shut up!" The boy called Gaara said, "Or I will kill you."

Kankurou and Temari shivered when they heard that, gulping loudly. Shikamaru finally releases his technique for fear of that Gaara doing something to Kankurou and Shikamaru also receiving the same thing. Sakura looked at Naruto who is finally steps aside, placing his kunai back into his back pouch. She wondered how he can still stand like that after facing a boy with so much killing intent.

Gaara turns to Naruto, "You are strong. What is your name?"

Naruto calmly replies, "Uzumaki Naruto. And you?"

Gaara turns to walk away from the group with his two team mates following.

"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara answered.

Naruto nodded slowly, acknowledging the boy's power. He knew that he might lose to a guy like that but he did not want to show it. The most he can do is put up a good fight but he will lose. 'Damn, I need to train more. There are more powerful ninjas out there.' Naruto thought.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura said, running to him, "Are you alright?"

Naruto looks at his pink haired girlfriend, "Yeah..."

She hugs him tight, "Are you crazy acting cool like that? That guy with red hair could have killed you!"

Naruto hugs back, "I'm sorry for worrying you Sakura-chan. I just couldn't allow people like that threaten the people of Konoha or my angel."

Sakura blushed when he called her his angel and releases the hug, "Just be careful next time."

Naruto turns to Shikamaru, "Hei, Shikamaru! Are you alright?"

Shikamaru groaned, "It is troublesome but yeah. Anyway, I have to go meet Chouji. He is supposed to bring me lunch at where we are supposed to meet and I don't trust him holding my lunch for too long."

Shikamaru then starts walking the opposite way. Naruto and Sakura watch until the Nara genius left them and Sakura quickly kisses him on the cheek. Naruto blushed lightly.

"So, where were you? We were supposed to meet at Ichiraku for lunch today." Sakura said.

Naruto scratches his head, "Sorry but I woke up really late today so I decided to eat at home."

"Naruto!" Sakura cracked her knuckles, "You should know it is not nice to skip a lunch date with a girl!"

Naruto backs away but Sakura walks forward, "I'm really sorry, Sakura-chan. I promise I won't do that again."

Sakura seemed to calm down, "Fine, Naruto-kun. Only because you promised. Now come on, we have training to do."

Sakura then grabs Naruto's wrist and jumps up to the nearest rooftop. The two then start jumping from rooftop to rooftop to get to their training ground. They are supposed to meet up with Maki for their personal training today so they wouldn't want to be late.

It took them about another six minutes to get to training ground number one. They open the gate and walked in but to their surprise, their training ground is pretty trashed up.

"Wow, somebody must have had a pretty wild spar." Naruto said, looking at the area. The grass is burnt pretty badly and there are several kunai's on the ground and trees.

"Yeah. Well, this is no excuse however," Sakura said, walking to the ruined training ground, "Uncle Maki will not accept this as an excuse."

The two ninjas started doing their warm ups while waiting for their late sensei. While they were halfway doing, they heard something strange.

"Fire Release! Great Fireball technique!"

The two can hear someone said that quite far away. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, both having confused expressions on their face. Their training ground has been booked by Maki at this time and no one else is supposed to use this training area at this time.

"Come on, let's go bust this guy!" Naruto said mischievously.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "You are always thinking of ways to get in trouble."

"What do you mean? Whoever that guy is, he should be in trouble."

"True."

The two then start following the chakra source. They soon found themselves near a river and they can see that the man is standing on water. The two hid behind a large boulder and gasped when they realized who the man is. It is Maki.

"What the hell is he doing?" Naruto whispered.

"Obviously, he is training though I have never seen him train." Sakura answered back softly.

Maki is sweating a lot, his pink hair tied into a ponytail. He creates two shadow clones and the two runs up to a tree, grabs a leaf and starts doing something to it. The clones suddenly caused the leaf to burst into flames and once they are done with that, they continued taking another leaf and doing the same thing again.

Maki forms seals again.

"Fire release! Great Fireball technique!"

A large ball of fire came out of Maki's mouth, the water parting to the side when the fire is passing by. Maki is panting a lot as his sweats dropped to the river.

"You two can come out now. I will start your training now." Maki said suddenly.

Naruto chuckles, expecting this from his sensei. He wasn't one of the top Jounins of Konoha for nothing. Sakura follows Naruto, walking to their sensei whom is also walking to them.

"Hei sensei, how come your clones can burn a leaf just by holding it?" Maki asks, curious.

Maki chuckles, "That is part of my training to strengthen my nature affinity. I will explain that to you when you reach a Chuunin rank."

"Alright," Maki barked, "Training today will not be much as I have an important notice to give the two of you. But before I give you the notice, here are the scrolls for your training."

Maki then starts to dig his back pouch for something. It took him three seconds to find what he was looking for. He pulls two scrolls out and tosses one to Naruto and the other to Sakura. Naruto and Sakura open their scrolls, concentrating on the information. It took them about three minutes before Naruto tossed the scroll to the ground.

Maki and Sakura jumped into a tree to avoid whatever it was that they learned. Naruto tosses his scroll to the ground but the scroll is still open. Naruto looks at the scroll and slowly forms seals. It took him about eight seconds to just complete the four seals required.

"Wind release! Sound of the breeze tehcnique!"

From Naruto's feet, a large amount of wind appeared in his feet and is covering a large area. The wind touched the trees from across the river but nothing happened. Naruto frowned and starts doing seals again but when he completed his third seal, he felt someone grab his arm. He looked at Maki.

"That's enough, Naruto. That technique will not affect trees." Maki said.

"Then what good is the technique for?" Naruto asks.

"That technique is only used on humans. When the wind touches them, the wind will affect the human's ear and cause them to not move for about three seconds. This is because once the wind enters the ear; it then enters the brains and disrupts the brain, not being able to send any commands to the body." Maki explains.

Naruto nodded in awe, "Wow, that's cool."

"Alright Sakura," Maki said, "You can start your new genjutsu on us now."

Sakura starts forming seals and the environment suddenly changed. The new environment almost looks the same only the river has dried up and the trees are dead. Naruto is quite shocked and backs up to Maki. The ground suddenly starts trembling and about eight hands emerge from the ground with large shurikens. Maki looks at the hands, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

One of the hands then tosses a shuriken at Maki. Maki creates a shadow clone and the clone stands in front of Maki, receiving the blow. The clone dispels. 'So, I never expected her to be able to time her real attack with the genjutsu attack perfectly.' Maki thought.

He quickly forms a seal.

"Release!"

The genjutsu is released and soon, they are back at the training ground. Sakura jumps from the tree and lands in front of her uncle.

"Your genjutsu is good and I never expected you to be able to time the attack so perfectly. People that are inexperienced will think that the attack is just a genjutsu until they die." Maki commented.

"Yeah, so can we know what it was you wanted to tell us?" Naruto asks impatiently.

Maki smirks and takes out two papers from his Jounin vest. He hands it to them and the two look at it. Their eyes widen when they realised what the paper is and the two look at Maki, both demanding an answer.

"Those are the forms for you to register to take part of the Chuunin exams." He explains.

"You mean you think we are ready?" Sakura asks.

Maki nodded, "I know you are ready. I know I train you two personally and not your team, but your fighting and the way you think are already at Chuunin level. Now, you have to hand in the forms at the administration office. You have two days to hand in the forms."

Maki laughed silently as he watches his students walking away silently, their eyes never taking off the form. Maki remembered how excited he was to take part in the exam and of course what really excited him was to extract revenge on that Kawada bastard for humiliating him in front of Himura by knocking him out in their last fight.

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It is already night time in Konoha and Himura is waiting for Maki to meet her at this dango shop. She found Maki at the training ground early this morning. He was training and watching him train helped her in her mission and also realise how powerful he is. She knew that he is not a ninja to be messed with.

Maki finally entered the shop and she waved happily at him. Maki smiles back and she is quite surprised on how Maki looked in his casual outfit. He has his hair tied and he actually looked even better. She also realised that the women who are single in the shop right now are ogling at him.

Maki sat on the opposite side of the table, smiling, "This is rare, you know?"

"What do you mean?" Himura asks.

"You asking me out tonight. I would call this a date."

"Well, you can say that." Himura said and laughs nervously.

"Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Himura-chan," Maki is serious now, "I know you wouldn't ask me out unless you have some problems. Like last time, you only call me out without Kawada is either when you are having some trouble with him or when he is in a bad mood and you want to know how to please him."

Himura sighs, "Well, I've changed. Can't I even ask an old friend out to dinner?"

Maki narrows his eyes, "As much as I like to believe you, Himura-chan, I really know that you are hiding something but I will ignore that for now. So, let's enjoy ourselves tonight."

Himura nodded and she took a stick of dango and ate it. She knew that she has to gain Maki's trust fast but she can't ask him on his ninja abilities tonight since it might arouse suspicion. She will just have to gain his trust before she act. She can also at least try to seduce him tonight, well, seduce just a little. She didn't want to seduce him until they end up in bed.

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Naruto sighed heavily in his bed, very happy right now as he is lying on his bed, hoping for sleep to claim him. He can't wait to take the Chuunin exam in three days time. How can his life get any better? First, he and Sakura are now a couple and now he is improving in his ninja career. He is definitely getting a good life now.

He shifts in his bed, looking out his window. He looked at the full moon and closes his eyes, hoping to dream of his beautiful cherry blossom.


	14. Chuunin exam part I: The written exam

**Alright, I guess this will be the last chapter I will be updating before I go on my holidays. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review.**

**Oh yes, I have a question to ask you. You can answer the question with the review that you give in. I will only accept the answers of the first 10 reviews.**

**Should Haruno Maki die?**

**I have already planned my story to the end and Maki's death will play an important role. I have planned for him to die but if he doesnt die, it can change the story but I also have tha coverd.**

**So, hope you enjoy this story.**

CHAPTER 14: CHUUNIN EXAMS PART I: THE WRITTEN TEST

Three days have passed since Haruno Maki gave the forms to two of his personal students that he has trained for two years. Now, as the sun begins to rise from the mountains, is the day that the Chuunin exams begin. The sun shines first on the Hokage monuments, allowing the face of the past Hokage's to be seen in the light. Only then did the light shine on the rest of the buildings of Konoha.

The alarm clock did not ring today as Maki has forgotten to set up the device yesterday but luckily for the pink haired ninja, he woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He groaned loudly and looks at the alarm clock next to him. It is already seven fifteen in the morning.

Upon looking at the time, he quickly kicks off the blanket and opens the door with only his boxers. It is his sister-in law and Suyuki looking at him with only his boxers blushed lightly. Although she has loved him as a brother, they are not related like that and so that is the result of looking at him with just his boxers. Maki looked down and realized his predicament and quickly hides behind the door with his head popping out.

"Suyuki! You caught me by surprise!" Maki said.

Suyuki looks away, "I'm sorry Maki but it is time for you be up by now or you are going to be late today."

"Late for what?" Maki asks, "I don't have any missions today."

Suyuki cocks her head to the left, "I thought the ninjas that have students with them have to report to the Hokage's office for the Chuunin exams."

Maki's eyes widen upon hearing that, "Shit, you're right! I completely forgot about that."

With that, Maki closed the door, almost hitting Suyuki in the face. Maki quickly starts scrambling for his ninja outfit and it took him less than a minute to find and wear them. He wears his Jounin vest and ties his back pouch behind his pants and packs five of his custom kunai's in it.

He opens the door and runs down the stairs. He decided to skip his morning shower today. Besides, he doesn't smell that bad. Well, at least that is what he thinks but if he took a shower, he will definitely be late and the Hokage will yell at him for his lack of punctuality. And the worst part is, it will be in front of foreign Jounins with Himura present. 'Kakashi is so lucky that he has no student to teach punctuality or he would be scolded everyday for his student's and his own punctuality.' Maki thought.

He reached the dining room and finds that Sakura has already finished her breakfast. Well, that is no surprise since she always wakes up early. She is drinking a cup of orange juice and since her mouth is full, she simply waves at her uncle to tell him good morning.

"And a good morning to you too." Maki says quickly, sitting down and starts to eat his toast of bread quickly.

Sakura puts her cup down, "You really have to wake up early, uncle Maki."

Maki did not respond as he is busy drinking his cup of orange juice to help swallow his food easier. He finished eating his breakfast in just one minute and that has never been done before by him. He pulls out a piece of tissue from a tissue box on the table and wipes his mouth since it is dirty from drinking the juice too fast.

"Why are you in such a hurry, uncle Maki?" Sakura asks.

"I have to get to the Hokage tower at eight." Maki answers, putting the empty plate and glass in the sink.

"You still have a half an hour, you know?"

Maki glances at the clock and Sakura is right, he still has about half an hour. Now that he thought about it, he actually overreacted for being late. He scratches the back of his head, laughing.

Sakura sighs, "You sometimes act like an idiot, uncle Maki. Just like Naruto."

Maki rubs Sakura's head, messing her hair, "Is that a crime?"

"Uncle Maki! You know how long it takes to get my hair straight?" Sakura complains, trying to fix her hair back.

Maki apologised and made his way to the living room to relax for a while. He needs to relax his brain after running around his room like crazy for his clothes and shoving food and his drink down his mouth like crazy. Suyuki approaches Maki with an open hand.

Maki knows what she is doing and quickly starts to find his wallet. He finds it deep in his left pocket and takes it out and starts counting his money. After he got the amount, he hands it to Suyuki.

"This is not much for the three of us, you know?" Suyuki asks after counting the money.

"Trust me, since Sakura is entering the Chuunin exams, she won't be coming back for another five days." Maki said, putting his wallet back into his pocket.

"And just what do you mean by that?" Suyuki asks with her hands in her pockets.

"I'm sure you should remember that when I took the Chuunin exams I did not appear back for five days."

Suyuki nodded slowly, "Now that you mentioned it, I remember you weren't there to try and disrupt me and Hanaki's date when you took the Chuunin exams."

Maki narrowed his eyes, "I am not that annoying, am I? But that's not the point. It is part of the Chuunin exams where the second part of the test takes five days to complete."

Suyuki now has a worried expression, "Are you sure Sakura can handle it?"

Maki nodded, "Don't worry. I have been training her for two years and I can tell that she is stronger than I was at her age. As a matter of fact, I won't be surprised if she surpasses me when she is sixteen years old."

"Is she that good of a ninja?"

Maki gave a big grin, "That is to be expected from a teacher like me."

Suyuki rolled her eyes and left the living room with her purse, going to do her morning grocery. The last thing Maki heard from Suyuki is her saying bye and closing the door. Maki looks at the time and it is already seven forty in the morning. He will have to leave soon. He ties his long hair in a ponytail and stands up from his seat, stretching himself.

Sakura is back with her uncle after fixing her hair. She is wearing her usual ninja outfit today which is a red dress with black tights for her pants. She has her hair tied in a ponytail like her uncle with her headband tied on her head.

Maki looks down at her, "You know, if you are older and taller, people would think that you are actually my sister."

Sakura giggles, "Well, we should get going anyway."

Maki nodded, "You do know where you are supposed to meet your team for the exams, right?"

Sakura nodded, making her way to the front door, "At the academy. The exam is at room three hundred and one."

Maki follows her and starts to wear his ninja sandals. He looks at his niece that he considered as his daughter, fixing her headband. He starts to think about the second test, where he killed countless ninjas there and also almost lost his life. He has tears in his eyes just waiting to pour down.

Sakura looks up and can see her uncle with red eyes, "Uncle Maki? Is something wrong?"

Maki rubs his eyes from the tears that were clouding his vision, "Yeah."

Maki then gets down on one of his knees, reaching eye level with Sakura. Then he did the thing that Sakura did not expect. He hugged her tightly, his head on one of his shoulders. Sakura was too shocked to do anything and after a few seconds of hesitation, hugs her uncle back.

"Sakura?" Maki asks, pulling away from the hug.

"Yeah?"

"You know that I love you right?" Maki asks, looking at her eyes. For the first time, Sakura realize that Maki's eyes are green just like hers.

Sakura nodded, "Of course I know. You have become like my father."

Maki smiled and stands up, taking a deep breath. He is about to open the front door to make his exit when Sakura asks.

"Uncle Maki? Why are you doing this? Are you going to die or something?"

Maki held the door knob, not turning back. He did not know what to do and just stood there. He turns to face Sakura and just gave a small smile.

"Sakura, this is actually forbidden but I am going to tell you something about the second part of the Chuunin exam." Maki said.

Sakura nodded and Maki continued, "I won't tell you what you are supposed to do but I will tell you this. You are going to be putting your life on the line just as the rest of the other teams. And I am scared that I might never see you again."

Sakura did not know what to say. She did not expect to hear this as an exam but then again, a ninja always has to put their lives on the line. She could start to feel herself tremble from fear but it soon disappeared. She looks up at her uncle again with a smirk. Maki looks confused.

"I won't die, uncle Maki. I am a ninja and I am the student of the replicator. Besides, I am the daughter of my father and I will make him proud." Sakura said, clenching her fists.

Maki smiled proudly, "I guess you are just like my brother in a way. He was also an elite Jounin of Konoha like me and Kakashi. We were perhaps equals but I don't know. We never fought but if he was given a nickname, he probably would have something to do with sending people to the mental hospitals."

Sakura opens the front door, "Why the mental hospital?"

Maki walks out of the house and Sakura followed, "Just like you, he was the top genjutsu user in the village of Konoha. His genjutsu's are so powerful that it messed up his enemies mind so bad that they can never recover. Also when I went on missions with him, never have I seen an enemy ninja escape his genjutsu."

Sakura looks up at her uncle who is smiling, lost in thought, "He really is that strong?"

Maki nodded, "I can tell you more about him next time, but now, we have to go."

Sakura nodded and jumped on the nearest rooftop, making her way to the academy. Maki smiled as he watched her disappear. He then formed a seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke, appearing in front of the Hokage's tower.

'She reminds me of you when you were young brother. The only difference is that she has more feminine characteristics but she is a girl.' Maki thought, smiling.

Sakura took about seven minutes to reach the academy and she found her team waiting for her by the entrance of the academy. She jumped off the last rooftop and landed next to Shikamaru. Shikamaru just yawned from his day dream while Chouji just continued eating, giving a simple nod of her presence.

"You women are so troublesome, always making us males wait." Shikamaru said, yawning once more.

Sakura popped a vein on her forehead, "What did you say, you lazy bastard?"

Shikamaru has his two hands up, to show that he wants no trouble, "Nothing, nothing."

"Good!" Sakura said and starts to make her way to the academy with the two boys following her. Chouji offers her chips to Sakura and she did take a few. Chouji then offers Shikamaru but he refused.

"You need to eat more, Shikamaru." Chouji said with his mouth full.

Shikamaru sighs, "No thanks. My mum will get mad if I eat too much and that will be so troublesome."

"Almost everything is troublesome for you, Nara." Sakura said, looking at her team mate.

Shikamaru simply shrugged and they continue walking, climbing up the stairs. They reached the second floor and were about to continue walking when they realized that a sign said this is the third floor. Sakura looks at the sign and smirks and she looks at her other two team mates. They passed her and continued walking and Sakura follows.

'They still haven't realised it yet.' Sakura thought.

They could see a large group of kids around their age making some kind of commotion. They all look to be angry and also afraid at the same time. Team ten had to push their way through. When they finally reached the front of the crowd, they could see a kid with green spandex on the ground.

He has black shiny hair and very thick eyebrows and even his eyes seems to be a little weird compared to the others. He is wiping a bit of blood from his mouth. They can see that two teenage kids, around their early twenties guarding the door.

"You had better not waste your time taking this exam." One of them said with a bandage across his nose.

"Yeah," his companion agreed, "We have taken this exam for years now and we have still failed. You are just going to be wasting your time. Besides, it is also dangerous."

"That may be true," A girl said, kneeling next to the green spandex boy, inspecting his injuries, "But we are still willing to take the risks to become Chuunins."

The girl is wearing pink sleeveless shirt loose blue pants. She has brown hair and has her hair tied into two buns. After the girl inspects his injuries, she tries to enter the room also but is slapped hard in the face, causing her to fall next to the green spandex boy.

"We are going to say this once more," The two guarding the door said together, "Stop wasting your time with trying to take the exams."

"That may be true," A boy said and everyone turned to the voice. It was Sasuke, "But we are still going to take the exam even if we have to beat you guys up."

"Besides," Naruto said, appearing next to Sasuke, "This is a genjutsu."

Naruto turns to Sakura, who is looking back, "Isn't that right? Sakura-chan?"

Everyone in the room glanced at Sakura who is looking down at the ground with a smile. She looks up, a determined look on her face, "That is right, Naruto-kun. This is the second floor."

The room's environment changed and soon, the sign which said it is room three hundred and one changed to two hundred and one. The one with the bandage across his nose smirked, "I guess you saw right through it."

"But that doesn't mean you guys are worthy!" The companion said, charging forwards to Sasuke followed by his partner. Sasuke was caught by surprised but was able to avoid the kick by side stepping it. The one with the bandage attacks Naruto who grabs the wrist and counter-attacks by bringing his fist to the guy's face. Sasuke follows both and Naruto sending their fists to their targets when their fists are grabbed by something.

Sasuke and Naruto realize that it is the boy wearing the green spandex. He is grabbing both Naruto and Sasuke's fists. Naruto pulls back his fist but Sasuke had to grunt before he pulled it away.

"Did you not say that to not make a scene here?" Another boy asks. He has long brown hair and at the end of his hair, he has tied his hair into a small ponytail. He is wearing a white shirt with black shorts. His eyes are also quite strange as they are white.

"I'm sorry, Neji." The green spandex boy said, bowing slightly, "Besides, I saw someone that interested me."

"Oh, not again..." The girl with her hair in buns said.

The boy approaches Sakura with a slight blush in his face. Sakura is starting to get scared with the weird looking boy approaching her, backing away but the boy reached her. He has a silly grin on his face.

"Hi, my name is Lee! You are Haruno Sakura, right?" The boy, now known as Lee, asked.

Sakura nodded, not wanting to talk to this boy yet. The boy smiles and gives a thumb up, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Sakura had a jaw opened wide. She had never in her life met a person that is so straight forward. Before she could answer, she felt someone wrap an arm around her shoulder and she realized that it is Naruto.

"Sorry, Lee, but she is already taken." Naruto said, looking at the boy in the eye.

Lee's shoulders slumped, "Oh well, but I will still continue to fight for her heart! If I do not get your attention by the end of the Chuunin exams, I will run around Konoha five hundred times!"

"Right..." Both Naruto and Sakura said softly, walking away.

Both Sakura and Naruto are walking up the stairs to the third floor hand in hand. Sakura has a dreamy look on her face, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto is feeling his heart beat faster than ever, taking his time walk up the stairs. After all, his team and Sakura's team are already up there so they don't have to hurry.

"Hei, you two," A voice said behind them. Both Naruto and Sakura look behind them and realize it is the team mate of Lee. The one with white eyes.

"Yeah?" Naruto replies plainly, wondering what he wants.

"What are your names?" The boy asks, looking at Naruto more than Sakura.

"Why would you want to know that?" Sakura asks, curious.

"I can tell the two of you are strong and I have interests in facing you two in the exams." The boy explains.

Naruto nodded, "I am Uzumaki Naruto and she is Haruno Sakura."

"I am Hyuuga Neji. I will be looking forward in facing you, Naruto. Sakura." The boy said, walking pass them.

Naruto and Sakura watch Neji leave. The two shrugged and continue their journey and when they finally reach the doors, they take a look at each other.

"Well, this is it." Naruto said, getting lost in her green eyes.

"Yeah. Let's go." Sakura replies and leans to give a quick kiss on the corner of Naruto's mouth. Naruto shivered at the kiss as it was close to his mouth and was crying that she did not kiss him in the mouth.

The two open the doors to take up whatever the first part of the exam is, knowing that they will do well together.

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In the Hokage's room, several Jounins are all gathered in the room. The only difference that the Jounins have is that they are from different countries and village. Only Jounins with students are allowed to be in the room. There are four Konoha Jounins in the room, only one from the sand, several from lesser village such as the grass village and one Jounin from the sound.

Maki knew that the Jounins from the five mighty one's are less because the village would want to send only the very strong students to make sure they do not shame the village while the ones from the lesser ones have a lot of Jounins because they want to just try their luck and hope their younger ninjas can try to make their village proud.

Maki looks around the room and is surprised that such a small room can hold a lot of people here. He could not see Himura anywhere and his hopes went down that she did not have a team and is back at the Sand village. He can see Kurenai talking with Asuma and Asuma is clearly enjoying the closeness.

"Haruno Maki, I see you have a team this year!" A voice said loudly and Maki turns to face the man. He groaned when he realized it is the self proclaimed green beast of Konoha. He is one of the loudest Jounins in Konoha but powerful also. He is an equal of Kakashi and also rival, much to the dismay of Konoha.

"Hello, Gai." Maki simply said.

Gai has his fist up, shaking it, "Oh, acting cool just like my rival, Kakashi! I envy you for that, Maki!"

Gai starts to look around and frowns when he could not find what he is looking for. "Kakashi has no team again, eh?" Gai asks.

Maki shakes his head, "That is pretty obvious. No one will pass his test for the rest of our lives."

"That is very unyouthful of Kakashi to do that to new ninjas. The new ninjas have not yet embraced the power of youth so they will of course fail!" Gai said tearfully.

Maki has his shoulders slumped. Several of the Jounins are looking at his direction, wondering how he can talk with Gai. He doesn't hate Gai, he is just embarrassed with his loud outbursts but he can tolerate that.

"Perhaps you should be my new rival! You have a team and I have a team!" Gai offers.

Maki's eye widen, "No, no, no... I think Kakashi will be disappointed if you quit being his rival with him."

Gai nodded, rubbing his chin, "You are right Maki. But I will be your rival in this exam. I am sure that my students have more youth and will definitely beat your team."

Maki raised an eyebrow, "I doubt it."

"Is that a challenge, Maki?" Gai asks.

Maki nodded, "For once, I accept that."

Gai has his fist in front of him again, his eyes on fire, "Then I will accept that challenge! The power of youth will burn deep inside you, Maki."

Maki rubbed his forehead. He didn't want Gai to be so loud and now everyone knows about his challenge. He can hear several Jounins snicker and he can feel himself lower than ever. Perhaps accepting the challenge was a bad idea.

Gai soon leaves Maki alone and Maki continues to day dream about his team. Then, he felt a familiar presence and he thought he was imagining it when he realized he isn't imagining it.

"Himura-chan!" Maki greeted her happily.

Himura nodded, "You seem cheerful today, Maki-kun."

"I thought you left."

Himura smirks, "You miss me already?"

Maki rubs the back of his neck, "Something right that. You have always been a close friend of mine, you know?"

Himura nodded, "I have a team under me you know? I can't go until the exams finish."

"I see. I will be looking forward to see how good your team is."

Before Himura could answer, the Hokage enters the room and the room, just like the Jounin's resting place, became silent. They all watch the Hokage enter and take his seat behind the Hokage's desk, lighting up his pipe.

"As you all know," Sarutobi started, "Your students are in sitting for the first part of the exam now. I will also tell you that you should know that your students are risking their lives if they take the second part of the exam. I will ask you all know, will you agree to this?"

The room is filled with people saying yes or understood.

"It would be good to get rid of them too." A grass Jounin said.

The Hokage smirks, "That is if you want to get rid of them, then that is your only chance. Now, you are free for the next five days until your students pass the exam. So, if there are no further questions, you are excused."

The Jounins start to leave the room and Maki walks next to Himura. Himura is complaining something about coming to the Hokage's room just for that. Maki chuckles since that was pretty stupid to come for.

"How about we stop by a shop so we can catch up?" Himura asks.

Maki shrugs, "Sure, why not?"

Himura grabs Maki's wrists and starts to lead him, "Good, let's go."

Maki however, is starting to get suspicious. For three days, Himura has been trying to get close to him for no apparent reason. She has also been asking questions on how strong he is, his nature affinity and his abilities. Maki has not told her anything so far, saying that he does not share with people about his fighting abilities.

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"You have an hour, starting from now. Begin!" Ibiki commands them and everyone in the room starts writing their answers for the test.

Naruto is sitting on the fourth row next to a Rain ninja. He looks at all of the the questions in the exam and realise that he can't answer any of them. He is quite smart but he can't answer them. It is as if you need to have the experience and the knowledge to answer them. He definitely has the experience but not the knowledge.

He looks around the class and he can see that other ninjas are also having troubles but some are calm and writing their answers. He looks at the Chuunin invigilators sitting by the sides. They are all watching carefully, and one of them looked at Naruto in the eye. Naruto narrows his eyes and goes back to his paper. He scratches his head in frustration and he can hear the Chuunin he looked at earlier chuckle.

'Damn it, what's going on?' Naruto thought, 'These questions are impossible to answer. No one can answer these kinds of questions.'

He looks at the ninja next to him who is peeking at the answers to the ninja next to him and then writing down the answer. He looks at the invigilator and he is already writing something down. He knew that guy just got his points deducted and that scared him even more.

He looks at Sakura, who is sitting at the other end of the table. She is too far to ask her anything and besides, she is too busy writing her answers. Naruto knows that she is smart and should not have any problems with this since she has both the brains and the experience. He looks back at his paper and tries to read the questions once more. He still cannot answer them.

He glances at the clock in the front of the room and realise that fifteen minutes has already passed. He curses softly and starts to look around the class once more. He can see that Sasuke seems to be okay but what caught his eye is that Sasuke's eye colour is different. It is red in colour and he realise that he has activated his Sharingan.

'When did he unlock his Sharingan?' Naruto thought.

Naruto is brought out of his thoughts when he felt a kunai passing by him. It lands at the ninja behind him and the ninja is obviously shocked. The ninja gets off his seat and points at Ibiki who is the one that threw his kunai.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" He yells, visibly shaken.

"You have cheated five times. You fail." Ibiki told the ninja with no emotion in his voice.

The boy is too shocked to protest and soon, the invigilators call the numbers of his team mates and that boy to get out of the room. They obeyed and got out of the room. Naruto is now getting scared. He didn't want to fail the test but he didn't know what how to answer the questions. He looks at Sasuke again and he realised that he never paid any attention on that guy being failed. He was busy writing.

'Damn it, this test is making all of us wants to cheat!' Naruto thought. Then it hit him.

The words that Ibiki said remained in his head.

"You have cheated five times. You fail." Ibiki said.

'The way he said it, it is like that guy was on a mission. He failed. And, why would they give us five chances before they fail us? Most exams would fail us immediately if caught cheating. This can only mean that they want us to cheat. This explains why there are so many Chuunins watching us.' Naruto thought.

'So, if they want us to cheat, then I will. I sure am lucky I learned this jutsu.' Naruto thought.

He starts making seals. He whispers:

"Wind release! Voice of the wind!"

He blows at Sakura and when he is sure that his technique is activated, he tries it.

"Sakura-chan, can you hear me?" He asks.

"Naruto-kun? Are you crazy talking to me?" Sakura mutters angrily.

"Relax, Sakura-chan." Naruto assures her, "This is a technique and we can talk like normal from where we are. Sakura-chan, how are you doing with the exam?"

"I'm okay, so far." Sakura replies, "The questions are hard but I can answer them."

"Can you tell me what you wrote?" Naruto asks.

"What?!" Sakura nearly yelled but was lucky that the Chuunins did not notice.

"Calm down, Sakura-chan. I really need your help. I can't answer any of them." Naruto said.

"Fine, but you had better give me something in return." Sakura responded.

"How about a date?"

"That will do just fine. Now, answer number one is..." Sakura starts giving her answers to her boyfriend.

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At a dango shop, two long time friends are laughing as they talk about old times which were funny to them. They have never gone out on a mission together when they were young but that was a thought that the male has always wondered how it would have been.

"Do you remember when we took the Chuunin exams?" Himura asks, taking a bite of her dango.

"Yeah. Especially the second exam." Maki said, shuddering at the thought.

"Yeah, I was lucky that Kawada was a genius. He helped us take the scroll without much of a fight by using his brain." Himura said dreamily.

Maki snorts, "Yeah, and look at where his brain lead him? He was too arrogant that he underestimated me in the third exam."

Himura sighs, "I admit that was the first time I acknowledged your strength. You actually beat the rookie of the year of our age group."

Flashback

In the stadium, two ninjas are fighting with everything they have got. One, is still on his feet wearing a black jacket and has his hands in his pockets. The stadium is filled with the voices of female, cheering him and some yelling at the opponent of the good looking boy.

Maki is on all fours, glaring at Kawada. Kawada is still relaxed, acting cool. Maki curses loudly as he is getting tired from trying to beat Kawada and looks at the audience. They are mostly females and most of them are either booing him or cheering Kawada. He then glares at Himura who is not even paying attention at him.

She is too busy looking at Kawada dreamily. She has failed in the preliminaries and he actually cheered for her and here she is, ignoring him. He looks back at Kawada who is approaching the referee, a Jounin.

"I guess I win the match." Kawada says coolly to the referee.

The referee looks at Maki's beat up form and nodded. He raises his hands, ready to make the announcement when he had to jump back, avoiding a kunai. The referee looks at the person who threw the kunai, which came from Maki.

"The match is not over until I am on the ground, dead!" Maki yells, getting back to his feet.

The referee nodded, not in the mood to have any arguments. Kawada looks back at the pink haired ninja, his eyes looking angrily at Maki.

"You cannot win, Maki. You are a weak ninja that has no talent of actually being one. Only ninjas that come from a clan can be excellent ninjas." Kawada tells Maki.

"Yeah!" One girl screamed, "Listen to the Nara, you pink haired idiot! You should just give up being a ninja!"

"You can't beat him!" Another teenage girl said, supporting the first one.

"You are just a ninja that is meant to be a dead-last!" Another yelled.

Maki clenched his fists and looks at Kawada. Kawada simply shrugs and yawns which just angers Maki. Maki looks at Himura who is still looking at Kawada, not paying any attention at Maki. Maki sighs and starts to raise his hand to say that he surrenders. How can he win when none is supporting him? He is about to surrender until he saw something that stopped him from doing so.

The person is now standing up and Maki never realised he was there since he was hidden by the audience. He is wearing a Chuunin vest and has pink hair on his head. The man is his brother and he is now standing up, his arms crossed on his chest. Hanaki nodded his head, to tell his brother to not give up.

Maki felt guilty for trying to give up. He smirks and drops his hand. He takes out a kunai, moving to a defensive stance. Kawada narrows his eyes, "If you continue, I will kill you."

Maki did not answer. He has only about two of his unique kunai's left when he originally brought ten of them. Kawada knows of his abilities and this time, Maki is filled with determination.

"Then I will do the same to you." Maki simply said.

Kawada shrugs and forms the seals to use the shadow mimic technique. The shadow then starts chasing Maki who is running around the stadium. Maki gathers chakra to his feet to run faster and runs behind a tree, forming a seal. After that, he charges towards Kawada and when he is finally near Kawada, he is caught by the shadow.

Kawada yawns, "I didn't want to do this, but I have warned you."

"Shadow neck bind tehcnique!"

Maki can feel the shadow nearing his throat and when it reached him, it grabbed his throat hard, strangling him. He can feel his life ending and he looks at Himura. Himura did look worried at him but when she looks at Kawada again; she simply shrugged, not caring if he is going to die. Maki could feel a tear down his cheek and he finally lost his life.

Kawada could his shadow cracking Maki's neck and it was over. He had to do so and besides, that is allowed in this part of the exam. The referee checks Maki's pulse and he nodded.

"Winner, Nara Kawada!" The referee announced.

The stadium is filled with people cheering Kawada. The girls are going crazy and Hanaki knew that it was not over. He saw the entire thing and he says loudly.

"You are underestimating him!"

Everyone turns to face him, even catching the attention of the third Hokage. All of them are silent and wondering what he is talking about. They know that he is the brother of Maki and they knew that he is just trying to hide his sadness of the loss of his brother by saying that.

"Thank you, ni-san!" Maki shouts, emerging from the tree.

Kawada looks at Maki in shock, charging towards him. He quickly forms seals for his shadow mimic technique and Maki know that he won't make it. He throws his kunai at Kawada and Kawada had to jump away to avoid the kunai.

Maki expected this and when Kawada landed on his feet, he throws his fist at Kawada. Kawada is thrown a few feet behind from the punch, his jacket dirty from thrashing on the ground. Kawada feels a bit of blood from his mouth and looks at Maki.

He yells in pain when he felt a kunai planted deep into his right leg. The sound of a shadow being created is heard and Kawada can feel the clone placing his kunai on Kawada's neck. The real Maki walks next to Kawada with his own kunai.

"As much as I would like to kill you, like I said I would, I won't for the sake of Himura-chan." Maki said flatly.

He looks at the audience and no one said anything. Most of them are too shocked to say anything and he glances at Himura. Maki continue, "Even if she didn't care when you 'killed' me just now, I cannot bear how she will be if I kill you." Maki said loud enough for everyone to hear.

He can see Himura flinch, guilty that she did not care for her best friend. Maki kicks Kawada on the gut, causing him to yell in pain and cough out blood. Maki walks away, his back facing Kawada and the referee.

"You may be from a ninja clan and a born genius, the person who strives for success will always win. You were too arrogant, Nara. Remember that." Maki said, walking back up to where the contestants for the exam rest or wait.

"Winner, Haruno Maki!" The referee announced and the clone of Maki dispels.

End of Flashback

Himura has her head down; guilty that she did not care about not caring for Maki in the past. Now she is starting to wonder how she is going to gain the trust for Maki but she is brought out of her guilt when she felt a hand on her hand.

"You know that I said that to you was because I was angry at that time, right?" Maki asked.

Before Himura could say anything, Maki is already up, "I have to go now, Himura. I have to go train."

'Well, I guess I could spy on him for his abilities.' Himura thought.

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"Congratulations! You have passed the test!" Ibiki said after the students that chose to take the tenth question remained.

"HUH?!" Every Genin said that and this is the reaction that Ibiki expected.

"What is the answer of the tenth question?" Sakura asks, confused.

"The answer? The answer is those that chose to remain to take the tenth question." Ibiki answers.

"I am really confused." Ino said, scratching her head.

"This tenth question is to test whether you have the leadership to be a Chuunin. A Chuunin is a leader and has to lead teams. When on a mission, a Chuunin cannot go back on a mission hoping that they can try again. You have to go on and try the mission even if you might fail the mission." Ibiki explains.

"Then what about the other nine questions?" Naruto asks, wondering what the point of the test was.

"That," Ibiki answers, smiling, "Is to also test your abilities needed by a Chuunin and that is to gather information without getting caught."

"So," Sakura said, "This whole point of the test is to cheat?"

Ibiki nodded and before he can say anything, something came crashing through the window. This caught everyone by surprise and even Ibiki seems surprised. Naruto has already drawn a kunai, thinking it is an enemy when he realised that the figure is wearing a Konoha headband.

It is a woman with purple hair. She has most of the attention of the males in the class since she is just wearing a fishnet and a mini skirt. The only thing covering her breasts is the trench coat.

"Alright maggots!" She yells, "I am the invigilator for the second part of your test. The name is Mitarashi Anko and you will all follow me for your second test!"

She starts to make her way out of the door and the Genins that passed the test followed. Sakura is reluctantly following, remembering what her uncle said. She is going to have to put her life on the line and that is starting to scare her.

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Ibiki is collecting the papers that the Genins had written earlier. When he collected Naruto's paper, he realised that his paper is the same as the person that did her paper without cheating, Haruno Sakura.

He is quite surprised when he checks through the paper that the Chuunin wrote down. Although they have caught all the students that cheated, they did not deduct points since they have did it without being so obvious but none of the Chuunin wrote down Naruto's name. They never noticed that he cheated.

'Uzumaki Naruto eh?' Ibiki thought, 'I will be watching you.'


	15. Chuunin exam part II: The forest of deat

**HI, here is the update. I guess i was still able to write while I am here in KL. hope you enjoy this chapter and plz review...**

CHAPTER 15: THE CHUUNIN EXAM: THE FOREST OF DEATH

It was already four in the afternoon when the special Jounin, Mitarashi Anko with a lot of Genins reached their destination. Throughout the journey, the villagers had to give way for the purple haired Jounin when she walked by. This is due to fear as they have heard that Anko is a sadistic ninja and is also a torturer in the interrogation squad and has the same reputation of Ibiki. Even most of the ninjas in the village are afraid of the woman but there are some that are not. One of them is of course; Ibiki and the others are mostly elite Jounins since they are superior to her.

The Genins look at their surroundings in awe. Even the leaf ninjas themselves are surprised at where Anko lead them as they have never been here before. They knew that Konoha is large but troughout their childhood, they have explored almost every area of Konoha. Well, it shows that almost just isn't enough.

Anko looks at the large trees in front of her and the fence that has has several 'forbidden area' boards posted. Anko turns to face the Genins and they are all looking at the great trees in front of them. Some are confused; some are in awe while others have simply no reactions. The ones that have no reactions are the interesting ones since they are not threatened by whatever they are going to face.

Naruto and Sakura are standing next to each other, feeling the warmth each of them is providing. Sakura is also starting to think back of what her uncle told her earlier. She will have to put her life on the line in this test and the thought of that is bringing back her fears. She snuggles more to Naruto and Naruto grips her waist tighter, trying to assure her that he will protect her no matter what. However, in this test, that just might not happen.

Anko takes a quick glance once more at the forest behind her. It is said that the first Hokage is the one that created this forest and even though there is no proof of that, most of the ninjas believe that since he has the ability to create wood. Anko however, never used this area when she took the Chuunin exams. She took the exam in the village of cloud and it was different than this.

"Alright!" Anko starts, "The forest behind me is where you will all take the second part of the Chuunin exams."

All the Genins stopped whatever they were doing and put their attention on her.

"Before I explain what you all have to do, I will give you some background information about the forest. It is called the 'Forest of death' and by the name, you should know what it means. The forest is about forty kilometres in diameter."

"Is that all you have to tell us?" Naruto asks rudely.

"Do you have a problem, blondie?" Anko asks, looking at the boy. She can tell by the whisker marks on his face that he is the container of the demon fox.

Naruto shrugs, "I just thought you can give us more information on this forest other than the size and name."

Anko licks her mouth, "You had better show some respect, kid. You wouldn't like it when I'm angry."

"Naruto," Sasuke warned, "For once, listen to her. She seems like the sadistic kind of a woman."

Naruto snorts, crossing his arms on his chest, "Oh come on, Maki-sensei never really thought us much about respecting our superiors. Heck, I think even he himself lacks in that department so why should we respect her?"

One of Anko's eyes twitches and she quickly throws kunai at Naruto. This caught Naruto by surprise but being a ninja, his reflexes are quite good so he is able to avoid the kunai, feeling the metal missing his cheek just by an inch. Anko is surprised that a mere Genin is able to avoid her throw but she never lets her prey escape. The kunai lands behind Naruto but Anko is already behind Naruto, grabbing his neck and with her long tongue, licks Naruto's cheek.

"My, you need to start learning respect. Maybe I can help you tell your pink haired teacher to teach you in that department?"

Naruto gulps in fear, feeling the grip on his neck tighten. Anko can sense his fear and licks from his cheek to Naruto's earlobe, causing him to shudder.

"Then again, maybe I can keep you hostage and lure your teacher to me. After all, he is the only adult ninja in this village that is still pure." Anko continues.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asks, trying to look at her but the grip is still strong.

Anko smiles, "It's simple. Your stupid teacher is the only male ninja of age that has never been with a female on bed..."

"Let go of Naruto and stop your perverted thoughts!" A female voice barks at Anko.

Anko is surprised that someone would order her like that. She stops licking Naruto and glances at a girl around Naruto's age with pink hair. Anko can tell that she is furios for holding Naruto like that and she lets go of her captive.

"My," Anko said, pushing Naruto away, "You are quite the jealous and possessive type, aren't you?"

Sakura growls in anger but Anko ignores her, walking back to the front of the Genins. She was just about to announce the rules expected in the exam when someone appears behind her. Anko didn't even notice the person's presence.

"Here is your kunai." The man said, the kunai wrapped around his tongue.

Anko looks at the man, "You better be careful. I don't like people coming at me from behind. You do this kind of thing again and I will kill you."

Anko takes her kunai and the man simply walks back to his team. Everyone that watched what happened wondered how come the man can also stretch his tongue like Anko.

Anko faces the Genins, "Alright, here is what you need to do to pass the exam! There are twenty six teams so we will be giving each team a scroll. The team will be receiving either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll. Since there are twenty six of you, thirteen teams will be receiving a heaven scroll and the other thirteen will receive the earth scroll. In order to pass the exam, you need to get the two scrolls. Once you have both scrolls, you have to take your scrolls to a tower in the centre of the forest and you will have passed the test."

Shikamaru raises his hand and Anko nods, allowing his to ask his question.

"And just how are we going to get the scroll?" He asks, dreading the answer.

Anko grins, "By any means necessary. In this exam, killing is allowed so you had all better be on your toes. Ninjas aren't only your enemy since the forest is filled with wild animals and poisonous plants. Also, you only have five days to get to the tower with the two scrolls or else you will fail the exam. If one of your team members dies or is not with you at the tower, you will still fail the exam. This is a team test so I would say that team work is essential."

A ninja then gives a large amount of paper to Anko. Anko thanks the man and then faces the Genins, taking a piece of paper from the stack, "I will hand this form to all of you to sign. This form is to signify that you are willing to take the exam and if anything happens to you, such as injury or death, will not be our responsibility."

Anko starts handing the form to every ninjas. The Genins all start reading the form and signing the papers since they all want to become Chuunins. Naruto simply takes the form and signs immediately since he doesn't have any parents to morn for him should he die, which he doubt. Sakura takes a deep breath before signing the papers, telling herself that this is one step closer to becoming like her uncle and father.

"Those of you who have finished signing the forms, hand it to the ninjas over there." Anko commands, pointing to a booth with two ninjas sited behind the booth.

"After that, I will call a team number and the village so that you know that is your team. All three members are to get behind that booth," She points to a different booth with a cloth covering the entrance, "Where you will be given a scroll, either the heaven or the earth scroll. After that, you are all to choose an entrance for your team to enter the forest of death. There are about fifty gates to enter so choose wisely."

After waiting patiently for about eight minutes, team seven from Konoha is finally called and all three members enter the covered booth. A ninja then gives Sasuke a scroll with a white covering and a seal that says 'heaven,' showing that they have the heaven scroll. Sasuke hides the scroll in his back pouch and they walk out of the booth.

"So which entrance do we go?" Naruto asks, looking at the other teams that are entering the booth.

"It really makes no difference," Ino stated, "I mean, all the entrances are the same distance away from the tower."

"It does make a difference," Sasuke corrected, "We should choose an entrance where a weak team is close to us. That way, we can quickly beat them and take their scroll."

"But," Naruto said, "We need the earth scroll, not a weak team to beat."

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, "But the weak team could be carrying that earth scroll we need. However, if we get a heaven scroll, we will keep it. We could use it while we have to survive in this stupid forest."

Ino nodded and points at an entrance, "Alright, how about entrance eleven? The ninjas at entrance number twelve are used by ninjas from the village of rain and they aren't that strong."

Sasuke and Naruto look at the ninjas and Ino is right. All three of them are quite skinny and can be seen to be nervous. Sasuke nodded and starts making his way to the entrance next to the rain ninjas. Now all they have to do is waiting for the command to begin the examination.

Naruto is trembling in excitement. Once more can he increase his skills fighting with ninjas from foreign villages. Naruto fixes his headband, to make sure that the last thing his enemy sees is that they are ninjas from the leaf village.

"Begin!" Anko yells.

Upon hearing that, the gates of every entrance is opened for the ninjas to use. Team seven of the leaf immediately jumps in and when they entered the forest, quickly jumps up to the nearest tree and starts to make their way to the tower. Since it is forty kilometres in diameter, they are about twenty kilometres away from the tower.

Sasuke has already planned to make their way to the tower and on the way, should they meet a team of ninja or even feel their presence; they will engage them to fight for the scrolls that they carry.

After jumping from one tree branch to another, they can hear someone screaming for their life and it is coming to their left. They can also hear metal clashing against metal. Naruto glares at Sasuke and Sasuke nods his head. They start making their way to the sound of a fight, hoping to scavenge what is left there.

The journey wasn't long. When they finally reached what was left of a fight, they can see three dead bodies of the mist ninjas that they targeted earlier. It can be seen that all three died from cuts and scratches. Team seven jumps from the tree branch and lands on the soft ground and starts inspecting the dead bodies.

"It looks like the enemy that did this are not very skilled." Naruto says, observing the cuts on the dead ninjas.

"What do you mean?" Ino asks, standing behind Naruto.

"I mean, the ninjas died here by most likely kunai's and shurikens. The ninjas that killed them did not even use a single technique. Not a fire technique can be seen, water or any other sort."

Suddenly, four shurikens lands right in front of Naruto and Naruto quickly jumps back, grabbing Ino with him. Sasuke also jumps back to Naruto and all three ninjas of the leaf takes out a kunai, trying to find the enemy.

There are too many trees from where they are standing so it is impossible to find them. Another wave of shurikens appears from above and all three ninjas jump away, blocking a few while they are at it. Sasuke side-steps to his right as a kunai were aimed on his left shoulder. Sasuke then realizes his mistake since a kunai with an exploding tag is right below him.

Sasuke jumps away on time as the tag explodes. Sasuke lands on the ground smoothly and quickly hides behind a tree. From behind the tree, he can hear the sound of shurikens and kunai's hitting the tree. 'Damn it, the enemy is well hidden.' Sasuke thought angrily.

As for Naruto and Ino, they are still in the open and are unable to hide since wave after wave keeps appearing. They have been able to avoid them so far but they are also getting tired. Naruto already has a few scratches on his clothes but not one has touched his skin, only his clothes. Frustrated, Naruto quickly forms a seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Three clones of Naruto are created and they all quickly jump up, trying to find their enemy. The two clones that are on the tree to the left of the real Naruto are destroyed by shurikens plunging behind their backs. The third clone, sensing where they are now, quickly jumps at where the shurikens came from only to be destroyed by kunai's plunging on it's chest, confirming where their enemies are.

Naruto turns to where Sasuke is hiding, "Sasuke!"

Sasuke emerges from his hiding place, forming seals.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

A large ball of fire is created and heading to where the clone is last destroyed. When the fireball finally reaches a tree branch, three ninjas jump away, confirming their presence. Naruto again forms seals.

"Wind release! Bleeding force!"

Naruto blows out a large ball and is aimed at a tree where the three ninjas are hiding. Naruto smirks, knowing that hiding from this technique is useless. When the large ball hits the tree, it explodes causing even the three leaf ninjas to be blown away, feeling small cuts.

The explosion lasts four seconds and Naruto has four long cuts on his right arm while Ino and Sasuke have bruises on their back for landing hard on their back. Ino looks at where Naruto cast his technique and there is nothing there. The tree is destroyed but on the ground, they can see three ninjas struggling to get back to their feet but the large wounds on their hands and bodies prevents them from doing so.

From their headbands, it can be seen that they are from the village of cloud. They are all heavily wounded since they have received the full blast of the high level technique.

"Ino can finish it." Sasuke simply said.

Ino nodded and takes out a kunai, wrapping an exploding tag on it. One of the cloud ninja hears this and quickly gets on his knees, wincing in pain.

"Wait, spare us and we will give you our scrolls." He said, gripping his heavily wounded right arm.

"What scrolls do you have?" Sasuke asks.

The cloud ninja takes out two white scrolls and tosses it to Sasuke. Sasuke grabs the scroll and scowls, not wanting these scrolls. He hands one of them to Naruto and the other to Ino. They now have three heaven scrolls.

"Well," Naruto starts, "We should let them live if they gave us earth scrolls but that is not the case. Ino?"

Ino nodded and tosses the kunai on the ground right in front of the cloud ninja that gave them the scrolls. His eyes widen in fear and quickly lunge for the kunai to try and throw it away but he is too late. It explodes, killing the three Cloud ninjas.

"So, should we continue our search?" Naruto asks, facing Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah. We need an earth scroll. Let's head to the north-east. Maybe we can find some ninjas there with an earth scroll."

All two of his members nodded and they all jump to the nearest tree and jumping away, leaving the scene where six ninjas were killed earlier.

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Meanwhile, far away from where team seven are is another team of leaf ninjas that are in the same age group as team seven. They are team ten and are currently walking peacefully on the soft ground in the forest of death. They have watched a few ninjas fight with one another and they did not get involved since they are either too strong or they did not want to get involved because the fight attracts other ninjas and once they are in the fight, others will come and fight them, which will put them at a huge disadvantage.

Sakura did complain a few times that they could win but Shikamaru explained that they will be outnumbered since more will come from hearing the screams of the dying. Sakura could not fight logic and the only way now for them to win is to hunt down a team and finish them off silently. They have an earth scroll so they will need a heaven scroll to pass this exam.

Chouji is walking next to Shikamaru and as usual, is busy eating a packet of potato chips. Sakura wondered how Chouji can pack so much food in his jacket. They are currently heading to the tower, hoping that they will encounter a team on the way.

"Shouldn't we put traps?" Sakura asks.

"And to what purpose will that serve? Yes, it will delay a team that is walking the same path but it brings us to no advantage. It is better we set a trap at the tower where people will be going there as well." Shikara says, yawning.

"But we still need the heaven scroll!" Sakura exclaims.

"That is true and we should find a team there with a heaven scroll. So, for now, please keep quiet, it is so troublesome arguing with you." Shikamaru said.

Sakura clenches her fists but does not say anything. As much as she would like to beat Shikamaru up, he is the brains of the team and is very useful to them. He is even smarter than her when he wants to. He can actually be the top in the class during the time at the academy but he did not do so, saying that he did not like attention.

What Anko said was also true, they have encountered wild animals such as a very large tiger wandering around but being ninjas, they are able to hide their presence and so; the tiger did not notice them.

After walking about another half an hour, Shikamaru, who is leading the group, stopped suddenly and his two team mates followed. He has felt a group of ninjas near them and they did not bother in concealing their chakras. Shikamaru can also feel that there are three ninjas, meaning it is just one team.

"What's wrong, Shikamaru?" Chouji asks.

"I can feel three chakra presences. They are to the right of our position."

Sakura looks up and she can see that the sun is already down. It is already night time. "It is already at night. We should set up camp soon."

Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah, but we will have to attack them first. They are quite near us and if they find us, they will hunt us instead. No, we have to take care of them first."

"So, what's the plan?" Chouji asks again, looking at his surroundings.

"For now, I have none. We need to get nearer to them so that I can see the surroundings and our targets." Shikamaru replies.

"Well, let's go then." Sakura exclaims as she jumps up to a tree branch.

"These women are so troublesome." Shikamaru says, sighing as he follows their pink haired team mate.

Team ten had to jump silently and slowly, making sure that they do not make a sound. They finally reached the enemy's campsite. All three members of team ten are about fifty feet above them and they can see that they are ninjas from the village of the Grass. They are all three sitting down, all enjoying the warmth of the fire.

"Alright," Shikamaru whispers, "It seems they have their guard down." Shikamaru observed, "Sakura?"

Sakura turns to face the Nara genius. "I need you to cast a genjutsu that does not harm them. Something that will make them thinks it is not a genjutsu long enough for me to cast the shadow bind technique on all of them." Shikamaru explains his plan and Sakura nodded.

Shikamaru turns to Chouji, "Chouji, once I have caught them with the shadow, I want you to find their scroll and steal it. After that, I will release the technique and you Chouji, knock them out with your meat spike tank."

Chouji also nodded. Shikamaru turns to look at the three Grass ninjas and they are still where they were, sitting down and enjoying the warmth. Sakura starts the plan, making three simple seals and casting the genjutsu on the unsuspecting ninjas.

The female of the Grass team is the first to realize that a large figure coming towards them. Her eyes widen when she is looking at a large centipede and she is trembling with fear, pointing at it.

"What's wrong?" One of her team mates ask.

The other one looks at what she is pointing at and he too is shocked. He nearly dropped from shock and had to use his hands to stop from falling. Finally, all three of the Grass ninjas can see the large centipede and they all quickly take out their ninja tools and toss it at it.

The weapons did not even touch the monster. It went right through it like as if it was made out of air. The female is surprised once more and it finally hit her.

"Genjutsu?" She said to no one and quickly forms a seal.

"Release!"

Sure enough, the large centipede disappears and all three Grass ninjas quickly take out a kunai, moving into a defensive stance, looking around them to find their enemies. While they are looking around, they did not realise that a shadow is approaching them and when it reached the first one, it spreads to the other two.

The realisation hit all three of them at once. They try to move their bodies but is unable to do so. All they can do is just tremble.

"What... is... going on? I can't... move my body!" One of the male yells.

Shikamaru jumps down from the tree branch. Since it is already at night and the forest is full of shadows, Shikamaru's shadow has no limit which is very good for him. He smirks as all three Grass ninjas look at him with hate.

"It's a... Leaf... ninja." The female said.

"Shadow bind technique... is a success." Shikamaru says.

Soon, Chouji appears and starts inspecting the camp for the scroll. He looks inside the jackets and back pouches of all the ninjas and finally found a white scroll in the back pouch of the female. She growls in anger and tries to attack Chouji but fails to do so, causing only small movement but also making Shikamaru grunt as he tries to hold the technique.

"Chouji, knock them out now." Sakura tells Chouji.

Chouji nodded and gets some space between him and the Grass ninjas. He forms the seals required and sure enough, his hair suddenly becomes long and sharp and he becomes large. He then rolls at the three Grass ninjas. At the nick of time, Shikamaru releases his shadow bind technique as Chouji collides at all three Grass ninjas.

They are all thrown in random directions. One of them is wounded deeply with large cuts on his chest from Chouji's hair while the other two are knocked out from the impact. Chouji returns to normal and regroups with his team. He gives the scroll to Shikamaru. Shikamaru thanks Chouji and puts the scroll into a pocket in his jacket.

"Alright, we have the heaven scroll. Mission completed." Shikamaru said.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It is already night time in Konoha but the Genins will still have to continue on in their exam for five days in the forest of death. The parents of the ninjas in Konoha that are taking part in the exam are already informed of the situation and some took it hard, crying that they might never see their child again while others, especially the ones from a ninja clan are proud that they are becoming stronger.

Two ninjas, both from different villages are walking in an empty street. It is already nine thirty at night and most of the shops in the village are already closed. At this time, it is already considered to be very late and most of the villagers are already at home, some in bed or some resting with their families. Even the Hokage tower is dark, the Hokage no longer present there but there are still ANBU inside to guard the area.

Maki and Himura are walking quite close together. Maki has volunteered to walk Himura back to her inn, even though Himura has already said that she will be alright. After all, she is a ninja but Maki has insisted.

"So, Maki-kun..." Himura starts, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, Himura-chan?"

"Well, I am just curious, but why are you still, single?" She asks, looking at her friend.

Maki scratches his head, "Well, I have already said, I have already given my heart and no one else will have it."

Himura sighs, "Maki-kun, you really must let go of the past."

Maki chuckles, "And just look at who's talking? If you really let go of the past, you would have returned back to Konoha."

"That's different!" She said angrily, "The one I love is dead and the only thing I have of him is a memory."

"Well, what's wrong with being single?" Maki asks, hoping to change the subject.

Himura looks at him as if he has grown an extra head, "You should know that every ninja never lives long enough. Hokage-sama is a rare one but not every ninjas can live as long as he. You have to enjoy your life as much as you can."

Maki flinched, "And what is making you say all this?"

"Well, for one, you are still a virgin." Himura stated.

Maki did not say anything and did not react also. It is true that he is probably the only ninja that has not lost his virginity. Most of the ninjas have already done it since they cannot live long enough and have to enjoy every day as that day could be their last. However, Maki could feel that he can live through like the Hokage.

"Did you know?" Himura continues, "That since I have been here, most of the kunoichi's in this village have targeted you to get into your pants? And even the guys like Kakashi are starting to wonder if you are gay."

"You have already met Kakashi?" Maki asks, astounded.

"Don't try and change the subject, Maki-kun." Himura warns, "I am telling you that you have got to stop pursuing me. My heart belongs to Kawada and none shall have it."

"And none shall have mine." Maki said, ending the conversation.

The two walk in silence once again, approaching the inn. The inn is quite well known in Konoha and expensive too. Maki can't believe that the Hokage would spend so much to give a ninja to stay here.

"So," Maki said, looking at the brown haired woman next to him, "When did you lose it?"

Himura turns to look at Maki, "I'm sorry?"

"You know, when did you lose your virginity?"

"Why would you want to know that?" Himura shrieks.

Himura silences her, "Not so loud. And I am just curious. You have asked me something personal so why can't I ask you something personal."

Himura rolls her eyes, "On my first date with Kawada-kun."

Maki could feel his heart breaking upon hearing that. Not because she confirms it but because the time she did it. When she had her first date with Kawada, she was only fourteen years old. Sure, a ninja is allowed to do all that at that age since their lives are on the line but to Maki, who still has the thought of starting a family at his late twenties, doing that sort of thing is way too young.

"Your first date, huh? Okay then." Maki said but Himura can hear his voice breaking.

She sighs, "You are the one that asked and..."

Maki raises his hand to stop her, "Yeah, it's okay. I understand. I mean, who am I to say what you should do right?"

Maki could feel guilt building up again. She is going to be breaking his heart by being friends with him again only to betray him soon. She just can't do that and this is just a small glimpse of how he might look like in a month's time. She knew she was stupid when she was young, ignoring Maki during the Chuunin's exam during the fight with Kawada.

When they reached the inn, Himura thanks Maki and kisses Maki on the cheek, something she does not always do. It pained her heart when Maki did not react anything to it. When she did that the first time, when they are twelve because he helped her for training her, he actually celebrated for gaining a kiss. Even when she kisses him on the cheek for being a friend for her, he will blush deeply but now, not a single reaction can be seen.

"I will see you tomorrow, Himura-chan." Maki said, emotionless.

"What are we doing?" Himura asks, hoping to start another conversation.

Maki gives a small smile, "That is a surprise."

And with that, he leaves Himura behind, watching the pink haired ninja walk away. One of the top Jounin of the leaf village and that is something to be respected for.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The hours fly quickly in Konoha and finally, the sun shines once more in the great village of Konoha. It has been a day since the Genins that passed the first test to become Chuunins entered the forest of death. The villagers are not aware of this however. They only know that in a month's time, the Genins that have passed until the third test will fight against in each other in an arena.

At precisely seven in the morning, the alarm clock of Maki is ringing loudly and Maki immediately sits up upon hearing the sound, as if expecting it. This is something rare since normally, Maki would smash the alarm clock or toss it to a wall. However, today, Maki quickly gets off his bed and grabs a towel. He is in a rather good mood and quickly runs into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

He switches on the shower and sighs happily upon feeling the warm water on his body. Since his niece is not here, he can enjoy the warm water. The thought of his niece worried him but he shrugged it off, knowing that he has trained her well and she will be able to take care of herself.

After spending about ten minutes in the shower, he switches off the shower and quickly dries himself. He wraps the towel around his waist and walks out of the bathroom quickly and runs into his room. After that, he locks the door again and starts looking for some casual clothes. He has no duties today so he is free. He found a dark blue shirt and a brown jacket that will go rather nicely. He also picked dark blue jeans for him to wear. After admiring himself in the mirror for a few minutes, he finally heads off.

"And just where do you think you are going?" A voice said, startling Maki.

Maki turns to face Suyuki, her arms crossed on her chest and looking at him. Her face has the expression of wanting an explanation and today, Maki is happy to tell her.

"I am meeting Himura-chan today. I have ten minutes to meet her." Maki explains.

"Himura? As in Hajime Himura?" Suyuki asks in disbelief.

Maki nodded, "Yes, her. I really have to go."

"Okay, you can go since she is an old friend of yours. However, you will still have to give me the money for my daily shopping." Suyuki tells Maki and just like that, Maki tosses her his wallet.

"Here, just don't spend too much on it." Maki said and he walked out of the door, leaving a very stunned Suyuki in the house. He has never given her his wallet before and this will be the perfect opportunity to spend it. After all, he just said to not spend too much so she won't spend too much. Well, maybe.

Maki is jumping from rooftop to rooftop in excitement. He knew that where he is taking Himura will definitely bring joy to her heart. It has been some time since he himself went there. He finally reached the inn to find Himura already waiting for him.

She is wearing a mere green blouse with dark green skirt that stops just right above her knees. Maki had to stop his gaze before she calls him a pervert. The clothes are quite tight and so it shows off her figure which he would call, beautiful. Her dark brown hair is tied into a ponytail.

"Hei, Himura-chan!" Maki greeted her, smiling widely.

Himura smiled back, "And a good morning to you, Maki-kun. You seem to be awfully cheerful today."

"And I am," Maki answers, "When I said it is a surprise, it is and I know you will definitely enjoy the place."

"Have I been there before?" Himura asks suspiciously.

Maki begins to think. It took him a few seconds when he just grins, "I guess so but you have probably forgotten about it. However, this place will definitely bring back memories."

Himura looks at Maki, trying to find any answers that could be written on his face. She could find none. Maki offers his arm which she gladly accepts, cuddling close to her good friend. The two walk peacefully in the busy streets of Konoha, walking towards wherever that Maki is taking her.

Throughout the journey, Himura can see that several of the young women are giving death glares at her. She wondered why at first when she realised that she is close to Maki. She looks at his face and she has to admit, he looks very handsome even with that weird pink hair. His clothes actually make him even more stunning and its no wonder that most of the female population are after him. It is really strange on how Maki can have any woman he wants to get on his bed but he has refused. It is either he is incredibly stupid or he has one strong will.

The weather today is also very good for just a simple walk in the park. With such a cool weather and also the wind that is blowing on them, it is a perfect day. Sadly for the Genins, it is not as they are probably fighting for their very lives right now. Maki looks at the direction at where the forest of death should be. Although he cannot see it from here, he knows it is where he is looking. He silently prays that both Naruto and Sakura will be safe in this test.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Maki has finally lead Himura to a secluded park of Konoha. It is a small forest but there is a walkway provided. Himura is starting to wonder where Maki is taking her as they delve deeper into the woods. Then, a frightening thought appeared in her mind.

Without thinking, she smacks Maki on the back of his head. This caught Maki by surprise as he tumbles face first to the ground, dirtying his clothes.

"Haruno Maki!" She snarls angrily, "If you think bringing me to this part to do something perverted, I will kill you!"

Maki couldn't help but laugh, "Himura-chan, I am not the kind of guy that will take advantage of women. If I am, I would have lost my virginity a long time ago."

Himura thought about it and started to realise of the logic. She couldn't believe that she dropped to conclusions just like that. After all, Maki is a nice guy.

"I'm sorry, Maki-kun," Himura apologises, helping him up, "I don't even know why I had that thought."

Maki laughs again, offering her his arm, "Himura-chan, its okay. If I was a girl, I would also be afraid that a guy would bring me to this kind of place where no one can hear them."

Himura accepts the offer and wraps her hand around his arm, resting her head on his braod shoulder. They continue on walking the pathway and after several minutes, they reached a cliff where they can see a great lake below them. Maki smiles when he looks at the peaceful lake below. It is said that the second Hokage is the one that created the lake with his technique, hoping to leave something beautiful for Konoha.

Himura looks around her surroundings. This is indeed a very beautiful place and is so peaceful. She can see people walking around the lake from here. She continues walking around when she saw a small clearing where there is no trees. It is a good place for people to lie down and when she turns back to Maki, Maki is quite depressed.

"Maki-kun, what's wrong?" She asks, worried.

Maki sighs, "You still don't remember this place, do you?"

She looks around her. It looks strangely familiar but it could not trigger a memory. She shook her head. Maki closed his eyes, not wanting to say this but he must. After all, if Kawada told him this is the place and Himura actually confirmed it, it must be true.

"This is the place where your first date occured." Maki said with pain in his voice.

The answer surprised her. She looks at where she is standing, at the centre of the clearing. Indeed, this was where she and Kawada spent the night together. It is starting to come back and she remembered everything that happened on her date. She was so happy and it brought tears to her eyes.

"Maki-kun," She said, tears flowing down her cheeks, "How did you know this is where our first date is?"

"Well..." Maki paused, "You probably don't remember but... I am the one that told you to tell Kawada to take you here."

"What are you talking about?" She is even more confused now.

Maki sighs, standing next to her, "You have really forgotten, did you? You told me Kawada did not know where to take you for your first date since you want it to be special. I told you to tell him to take you here. It is a beautiful place, isn't it?"

Maki smiles and looks up at the bright sky, "From here, you can see the stars and if you are lucky, a full moon. The lake below makes the place even more beautiful. A romantic place for a first date is almost every woman's dream."

It is true. When Himura came here on that night with Kawada, she could never forget the moment. It was magnificent, just the two of them alone with nothing but the stars high above them. Himura smiles a little from the beautiful memory but then, a question popped into her head.

"How did you find this place?" She asks, looking at the pink haired man who is now on the ground, his eyes closed and in a very relaxed state.

Without opening his eyes, he answers, "Well, you should already know that I liked you at that time. I have been looking for a place where when I can finally take you to a date, I will confess my love for you, even if you already did know."

Himura is dumbfounded, "So you actually gave Kawada your special location for my first date with him?"

Maki shrugs, opening his eyes, "I wanted you to be happy."

"And how come you never took me to this place?" She asks but when she looks at Maki's pained expressions, she could read the answer. Was she really that bad? Sure, she told him that he will only be her friend but she could have at least accepted just one simple date.

"I never gave you the chance, did I?" It was more of a statement than a question. She hugs herself, "I am so stupid." She then starts crying, letting her sorrow take place.

"Now, come on," Maki raised himself from the ground, hugging the love of his life from behind, wrapping his hands around her waist, his head on her left shoulder, "Don't blame yourself, Himura-chan. You had a boyfriend after all."

She continues sobbing, "That does not mean I shouldn't have given you a chance."

Maki kisses her cheek, licking away one of her tears and soothing her, "Its okay. As long you as you're happy, I'm happy."

Himura turns around to face him, Maki's hands now wrapped around her back. She gives him a small smile, "I don't know how you can remain a single for such a long time."

The two share a laugh, forgetting the woman's sadness. Most guys would have just forgotten about their first love when they can't get them but Maki is different. He has fallen in love and when you're in love, it doesn't mean that you have to be with them. As long as you see them happy, that is enough to show your love.

Himura and Maki looks at each other in the eyes, not caring for the world. They slowly get closer, Maki's face inches away from her but Himura didn't care, and she got lost in those eyes of his. She had sweared to herself that she will not do anything that might make her regret later, such as doing this or falling in love. But she just couldn't do so.

The two lips touched and the two starts kissing each other. Maki has never felt such a wonderful sensation in his life and he hoped that this will last forever.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere in Konoha, three ninjas are jumping from treebranch to treebranch, trying to find a team of ninjas that has a scroll which is black in colour. They have been travelling in this forest for hours now and they could still feel no presence.

Naruto is growing bored from just jumping around. He just wants to have some action or at least find Sakura. He is missing her so much and just wants to hug her, anything that has to do with being close to her.

While he was lost in thoughts, a ninja suddenly appeared in front of them. All three ninjas of team seven stopped, drawing out a kunai to defend themselves. Naruto could tell that this guy is different and he can tell he is strong since he is the guy that could actually appear behind the purple haired Jounin so quickly.

The long haired grass ninja looks at them and licks his mouth, "I hope you preys can offer me some fun." He said in a raspy voice.


	16. Chuunin exam part II: The Snake Sannin

**Here is the new update, alright? Im still in malaysia but am finding more time to update you guys, hehe. **

**Anyways, votes have showed that you guys dont want Maki to die and I will respect your wishes, alright? However, you guys also say Himura should die and yes, even I would like that since ive made her past treating maki very bad. But sorry, i wont do that. Hope you wont hate me for this.**

**Besides, times change people. Look at Sakura. As much as I liked NaruSaku, i did not like how Sakura treated Naruto when they were 12, although Sakura did treat Naruto good sometimes like when she found out Naruto saved her from Gaara. T**

**But back to wat i was talking about, Himura will not die. I am also guessing my story will go quite long since The time skip is still far ahead.**

**Anyways, sorry for all me talking nothing here. Please review and i hope you enjoy this chapoter.**

CHAPTER 16: THE CHUUNIN EXAMS: THE SNAKE SANNIN

In the dark forest, known as the forest of death, Gennins are fighting for their lives just to get a specific scroll. The scrolls can be taken by whatever means necessary and because of this, many have died by attempting to take it or by defending the scroll. However, out of all the Gennin teams, team seven of the Leaf is not prepared to face the enemy that is standing right in front of them.

The man is quite tall and has long black hair. He has removed his big brown hat that was covering most of his face. His head band, showing that he is from the village of the Grass is tied on his forehead. He is smirking evilly at all three members of team seven.

Naruto is sweating now, not knowing what to do. Although he is normally confident when facing his enemies, he can tell that this one is somehow different. He doesn't know what it is but it is different. Even when he faced the Rock Chuunin two weeks ago, he has not felt so much fear and doubt such as this.

Naruto glances at the Uchiha, hoping that he can help think of a plan but he too is lost. Naruto has never seen so much fear in Sasuke's eyes. Ino is also struggling to keep from falling to her knees due to her trembling knees. Naruto looks back at his enemy and the Grass ninja has not moved yet. He is just standing there, smiling from ear to ear.

The Grass ninja chuckles softly and team seven quickly prepared to attack or defend but the grass ninja did not do anything. His chuckling turns to laughter, his laughter echoing throughout the forest and his laugh brings the chill to the bone.

"I will enjoy bringing in the fear to you!" The Grass ninja says maniacally.

"Shut up!" Naruto yells, surprising him and his team mates that he can actually move.

The Grass ninja himself is surprised that this young boy can still move to attack him. He is leaking out a large amount of killing intent that should paralyse young and inexperienced ninjas such as them but it seems that this blonde boy has the will to fight.

Naruto charges up for a punch and release it with out his might but the Grass ninja easily moves his head to the right, avoiding it completely. Naruto quickly brings his left leg to kick the man on the right of his ribs but the man uses his arms to grab Naruto's left leg, intercepting the kick. He then spins around, still holding Naruto and releases the hold, throwing Naruto to a tree. Naruto's back crashes hard on the tree that blood came splurting out of his mouth from the impact. Unfortunately for him, the Grass ninja is not done.

With speed that not even the eyes can follow, he is suddenly in front of Naruto and lands another punch on Naruto's gut. Naruto cougs out more blood and the Grass ninja continues his assasult, punching Naruto on the face and the gut, blood coming out from Naruto's mouth from every attack.

The Grass ninja charges for the final blow when his mind is suddenly not giving the order. This gave Sasuke the opportunity to save his blonde comrade, grabbing Naruto's body and brining it back to where he was standing. The Grass ninja curses and lands on a nearby tree branch, his anger boiling.

"I see," He said after observing the team, "You have a Yamanaka on your team. That explains why I was unable to give the final blow. You disturbed my brain and that gave the Uchiha the time to rescue your blonde friend."

"What do you want from us?" Sasuke demands, putting Naruto on the tree branch.

"He wants the scroll!" Ino says, fear in her voice, "This must be what he is after."

Sasuke nodded and takes out a heaven scroll, "Here, take it and leave us." He then tosses it to the Grass ninja.

Sasuke hoped that he would buy the bait. After all, they still have two more of the heaven scrolls so they still have a chance to pass the exams. They won't pass however if they continue on fighting this guy. He is on a different level and they will all die if they fight this man.

The Grass ninja grabs the heaven scroll and smirks, "I see. So, the only way for a prey to escape from its predator is by giving it a different meal. A very clever plan."

The Grass ninja uses his tongue to wrap the scroll that Sasuke gave and then, swallows it. Sasuke and Ino watch in horror and disgust that a man would do that. The Grass ninja softly laughs, "However that is not what I am after."

"Then what are you after?" Ino asks, not wanting to be in a fight with this man.

The Grass ninja has a finger touching his eyes, "Your fear!"

Watching the man touching his eyeball brought fear to the two trembling Gennins. Naruto is uncounscious and is not feeling the effect of what is happening. Sasuke and Ino can see through the man's eyes their death and a horrible death it is. Their body is mutilated and blood is everywhere. However, that was just a glimpse of death.

Sasuke and Ino are still okay but the scene brought shock to them. Ino drops down, trembling and crying from the scene. Sasuke could not move. He is trying but he can't. The Grass ninja actually casted a small genjutsu and Sasuke realised this as he activated his Sharingan before the man cast the genjutsu. Still, Sasuke is still afraid.

The Grass ninja smiles and grabs two kunai's "Impressive. That is to be expected from an Uchiha. However, can you escape a second time?

The Grass ninja tosses the two kunai's, one at Ino and one at Sasuke. Sasuke is screaming inside his head to move but he just can't. He can only watch the kunai's moving fast at him and he can see death approaching. However, just as the kunai nearly hit its target, a body shoved Sasuke out of the way and the other grabs Ino away.

Sasuke lands hard on his right side and can see Naruto receiving the blow and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sasuke shakes his head, finally his brain giving orders and the body receiving them. He turns to Ino and is safe, thanks to Naruto.

"Naruto..." Sasuke weakly says.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asks both Sasuke and Ino.

"I've been better." Sasuke replies as he gets back to his feet.

"I'll manage." Ino simply says, still visibly shaken up by the genjutsu.

The Grass ninja shakes his head, "You three have spirit, and I'll give you that. But that alone cannot beat me."

Naruto smirks, "No matter how strong you are, you won't beat us. And that is something our sensei taught us."

The Grass ninja cocks his head to his right, "And just which fool of Konoha would teach you that?"

"Maki-sensei!" Ino and Naruto say together.

The Grass ninja took a few seconds to process that information, "Oh, that pink haired ninja." The Grass ninja then laughs, "He has always been a fool and now he has raised foolish ninjas."

Sasuke growls in anger, "It doensn't matter how strong you are but what Maki-sensei taught us will beat you."

The Grass ninja is amused, "And what is that?"

"Teamwork!" The three Genins of team seven says together.

Naruto and Sasuke together quickly form seals. Seeing this, the Grass ninjas prepare himself for an attack.

"Fire Release! Grand Fireball technique!"

Sasuke blows out a large fireball aimed at the Grass ninja. This technique is powerful but only can be devastating if it is large enough. Sasuke's fireball is not that threatening and is only about six metres in diameter. The Grass ninja easily jumps out of the way only to find Naruto in the air with him, a few metres in front of him.

"Wind Release! Blasting Wind!"

A large amount of air is gathered around Naruto's body and when it is fully charged up, it blows up at the Grass ninja. This attack covers a large surface area and since the wind is invincible, the Grass ninja cannot see where it is coming from. He knows that he can't avoid it and quickly forms a simple seal. When the wind blasted at the Grass ninja, it turns into a log.

"Replacement technique?" Naruto and Sasuke said, surprised.

The Grass ninja lands on a tree branch, looking up at Naruto. He is impressed that he and Sasuke are able to work together so well. He is so caught up with his own thoughts he did not see an explosion tag right below him. It explodes, sending the Grass ninja landing hard on a bark.

He recovers quickly but Sasuke is not giving him the chance to recover. Sasuke lunges at the Grass ninja, his fist aimed at the nose of the Grass ninja. The Grass ninja is alert though and grabs Sasuke's fist but Sasuke is also fast. He quickly brings his other fist and it meets with the Grass ninja's right cheek and the punch is hard that it nearly breaks the Grass ninja's jaw.

Sasuke is not done and quickly kicks the Grass ninjas chin, bringing him high up in the air. Still flying up in the air, Naruto forms another set of hand seals.

"Wind Release! Sound of the breeze technique!"

Just like what he did in training, a wave of air appears from Naruto's feet. It is heading towards the Grass ninja. The Grass ninja's eyes widen, recognising the technique. He can tell that if he got caught in this technique, he will be an open target for them. He quickly forms seals and just when he is about to finish the last seal, his mind is once again interrupted like just now.

The time is enough for Naruto's technique to touch the Grass ninja. Just like what Maki had said, the Grass ninja can no longer move anymore. The wind has disrupted his brain and is unable to move for three seconds. He watch in horror as both Sasuke and Naruto lunge forward, their eyes filled with fury.

Naruto punches hard on the Grass ninja's gut and Sasuke continues the assault by kneeing enemy on the nose, blood oozing out of the Grass ninja's nose. Naruto and Sasuke continue the fight, beating the man left and right and that all lasted only for three seconds. When the Grass ninja can finally move, Naruto quickly throws a thin ninja wire around the Grass ninja, tying him up.

When the Grass ninja is completely tied up, Naruto kicks the Grass ninja on the head and the ninja falls down to the soft earth. The painful part is that the Grass ninja lands on his head and that should have knocked him out. But, team seven knew that a ninja this powerful cannot be spared. It was like what their teacher had taught them.

"You must never spare your enemy. They might return and fight you again, stronger and now that they know how you fight, it will be easier for them to beat you." Maki had once said during their first C-rank mission which turned out to be a B-rank mission.

Sasuke will be the one to finish the job. He quickly forms the seals required and when he is done, he uses it.

"Fire Release! Great dragon technique!"

This fire technique is a high level fire technique and when Sasuke blows it out, the fire is in the shape of a dragon. The fire blasts at where the Grass ninja was and Sasuke was sure that it will kill him. When the technique ended, Ino quickly throws two kunai wrapped with an exploding tag, making sure that the Grass ninja is dead. It explodes and the ground where the Grass ninja was is completely destroyed.

Naruto and Sasuke are standing next to each other, panting. Ino is relieved and falls down to her butt in relief that they have killed a powerful enemy.

"We did it." Naruto said between gasp.

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah. I never thought a Gennin can be that strong."

Naruto pats Sasuke's shoulder, "But we are strong if we are together."

Sasuke smiles and just as he is about to say something, laughter stopped it. They can hear laughing from where the Grass ninja was. All three members of team seven eyes widen when they can see a shadowy figure seen. The smoke from the explosions is still clouding their vision but they can definitely see the shadowy figure.

'What the hell is this guy?' Naruto thought.

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In a secluded place that not many people know about, two people are there sharing a passionate moment a few minutes ago. When they finished their short kiss, the two did not know what to do. Maki just looked at Himura and Himura looks at him. For Maki, that was his first kiss and a wonderful sensation it was. As for Himura, she did not know what to think. She could have resisted the kiss if she wanted to but somehow she just didn't want to, whatever the reason.

For Himura, she has never felt something like that before. When she had her first kiss with Kawada, it was different. Kawada kissed her with a slight bit of aggresion and lust while Maki's kiss was with compassion and love. She did not know what to make of this but she definitely wants to try it again, despite her promise and the risk of her mission.

If she falls in love with Maki, which she has told herself repeatedly she would not, she would be risking her mission since it will be harder to bring pain to the one you love. But just looking at Maki's eyes, she can tell that he is the kind of man that will protect the ones he love even if it costs him his life.

Maki can see that Himura seems confused. She is looking hesitant of her feelings and not knowing what the right choice is. Maki feels a tinge of guilt by putting the love of his life in this position. He knew that she still loved Kawada, even if he's dead and he shouldn't have made such a move.

Maki releases his hands from her waist, looking away, "I'm sorry." He apologised, "I shouldn't have done that."

"No, no." Himura said, "It's not your fault. I could have stopped it if I wanted to. I... somehow... wanted it..."

Maki looks at Himura in the eyes, "Do you mean that?"

Himura nodded, "It's just that... I have never felt something like that before. When Kawada-kun kissed me, it is just a kiss but when you did it... it is somehow different. Even if Kawada-kun has not kissed me for a long time, I can still remember it and there is a difference between your kiss and his."

Maki hugs her again, "Will you give me a chance?"

"I won't be in Konoha for long."

Maki looks down at her, "I have waited for you for so long. Even if you live far away, I will always love you and wait for you."

Himura has a tear roll down her cheek, "Maybe I should have chosen you all those years ago."

Maki shook his head, "Don't let this forget Kawada. Even though I hate him, you love him and I am just asking you to give me a chance. I want you to be happy and maybe Kawada has always done that."

Himura smiled a little, "Perhaps."

Maki hesitated with his next question but brought up his courage, "Himura-chan... I just wanted to know... What was it that you liked about Kawada?"

Kawada flinched, "Well... He is handsome and cool." But she did not tell him that Kawada had a bad temper. He had actually slapped her once but she was too blind by his charms to break it off with him. Now, she regretted it knowing that Maki would have treated her better and he knows how to love woman.

"And how can you still want to be with me?" She asks softly.

Maki looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I am... not pure..."

Maki laughs softly, pushing a strand of hair away from her eye, "I love you, Himura-chan. I don't really care about that."

Himura nodded and wondered how a person can love someone like that. Her virginity is something that can never be given to him, not that she is prepared to sleep with him yet. She sighs softly as Maki wraps her in his arms again.

They shared another hug, enjoying the warmth that each other are providing. However, their hug was interrupted by a puff of smoke appearing right behind Maki. Maki turns to face the new comer and it turned out to be a ninja with a hawk mask and a katana in its sheath on the ninjas back.

"Maki, you are needed at the Forest of death." The ANBU explains, still kneeling on one of its knees and facing down.

Maki scratches his head, "But I'm not an invigilator. And besides, Anko is there to take care of whatever..."

"Apologies," The ANBU interrupts, "But this is a matter of the village's safety."

Maki is taken aback by this, "What?"

"We have a problem. We believe that the code 'Long Orange' is in the forest of death with the Gennins."

"Long Orange?" Maki gulped.

Konoha has a system where when a missing nin has been spotted, they will use the code name for that specific ninja. Long Orange is another code for a missing nin but this is one that will need even the Hokage's attention.

The ANBU nodded, "You had better hurry, Maki. Anko is already out alone hunting him and the other elite ninjas are on a mission. We have already deployed several ANBU's in the forest but we will need other elite Jounins for help."

Maki nodded, "Lead the way."

The ANBU and Maki disappeared as they jumped to the nearest tree branch and start to make their way to the forest of death. Maki had to leave Himura for this as the village's safety will have to come first. He is also feeling fear in his heart and this is a feeling that has not arised for a long time.

'Long Orange,' Maki thought, 'What the hell is that guy doing back here in Konoha?'

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In the Forest of death, team seven of Konoha is waiting for the smoke to clear up. It is impossible that a ninja can survive their attack. It has been well planned of and they have tried it with their sensei's clone several times and it worked. They knew that all their attacks have hit him perfectly so how can this guy still be alive?

They had to wait for another two minutes for the smoke to clear up. When it finally cleared up, their suspicions are correct and their eyes are not playing tricks on them. The Grass ninja is still standing and he is actually laughing but they can see that he is now shirtless, burnt and destroyed and they could see that his face has melted, in a way.

"What's going on?" Ino said, scared now more than ever.

Naruto and Sasuke did not answer. They are also too shocked to find that the Grass ninja can still be standing and actually laughing. His face looks like it has melted, only his left eye can be seen. His lips look like a sticky liquid that can move.

"Is he even human?" Naruto manages to croack it out.

The Grass ninja looks at the three leaf ninjas, "I am impressed." He finally said, "For a bunch of Gennins, you can actually injure my body."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke demands

The man tears away his face and the three Gennins jaw drops. He actually peeled his skin just like that to reveal another face. It is almost the same but he now has yellow eyes and his skin is pale.

"You all humour me to no end but I will come do what I have come for." The man said slowly, looking at Sasuke.

"Your eyes," He said while looking at Sasuke, "Your eyes are far stronger from your brother's eyes. The same hate. You are definitely the brother of Itachi."

The moment Sasuke heard his brother's name, he activates his Sharaingan again in fury, "Who the hell are you?!"

The man laughs, forming a seal, "You will thank me for this, Sasuke-kun."

With that, the man's neck suddenly lenghtens and not even with Sasuke' Sharingan can he avoid the man coming at him. The man reaches Sasuke and bites on the back of Sasuke's neck and remains there for a few seconds. Naruto and Ino are too shocked by the man's neck to do anything and when the man finally releases the bite, some form of mark is left there.

The man's neck returns to normal. Sasuke is screaming in pain and holding the place where the man bit him. Ino quickly runs to Sasuke, trying to ease his pain but it isn't going away.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Naruto yells, taking out a kunai.

The man chuckles as he sinks to the ground, much to Naruto's shock, "I gave him a gift of power. Sasuke-kun will come to me for power. And even you, Naruto-kun, will be able to stop him."

The man disappeared and left the two remaining Gennins of team seven. Naruto runs back to Sasuke, worried for his friend. Sasuke is already uncounscious. Ino is holding Sasuke, not letting go of him as if he was the only thing left to hold on to.

Naruto looks down at Sasuke's unscounsious form, "How is he?"

Ino shook her head, "I don't know. He is still breathing but I'm worried about the mark on his neck."

"Let me see it."

Ino turns Sasuke around and the two can see the mark that was left by that man with yellow eyes. The mark is like that of the Sharingan only it is a little different since it has no red colour like the Sharingan.

"We will have to protect Sasuke." Naruto suggested, looking around.

"What about the test?" Ino asks.

Naruto shook his head, "We can always take the test another time but if enemies find Sasuke like this, they can kill him and he won't return to us. We have to protect Sasuke."

Ino nodded and Naruto carries Sasuke in his arms, "Alright Ino. I will carry Sasuke while we look for a safe spot to hide. You watch for enemies and if there is, take Sasuke and run while I cover your escape."

"But..." Ino wanted to protest but Naruto cuts her off.

"Don't worry about me. I won't die until I become Hokage and..." Naruto blushes even at a time like this, "Until I marry a certain someone."

Ino nodded, knowing who that person is. It is so obvious between the two of them and now that they are finally dating, that should not be a problem. Naruto and Ino starts their search for a hiding place while Ino keep watch for any Gennins that could be a threat to them. Naruto is following Ino from behind and also keeping his watch, just in case.

Naruto just hoped that Sasuke will make it through. After all, he needed a strong rival like him to test his ability and if he dies, he won't have anyone else to spar with. 'What would Maki-sensei do if he was in a situation like this?' Naruto thought, hoping it can give him some ideas. None came to him.

"Hei, Naruto?" Ino said, turning to face him as she landed on a tree branch.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad that you are my team mate." She said and she continued jumping again, looking for enemies.

Naruto is a little stunned by that but simply shrugged it off. He held no personal grudge on Ino, he just hates her when she makes fun of Sakura's forehead but he has no hard feelings against her. Come to think of it, she can be quite funny at times and her technique can be quite helpful actually although Sasuke says his blood line is better.

Of course the Sharingan is better since his is more to combat while Ino's technique is more to scouting and interrogation. Sasuke sometimes think too much of fighting and whoever he is trying to kill.

Naruto is now busy thinking about his pink haired girl friend. He hoped that she is okay. He know that her team is quite strong and can actually rival against his team since they have a genius like Shikamaru, although the guy would say it is troublesome. He is also starting to get worried that they still have no earth scoll but the safety of Sasuke will have to come first. He must come out alive so that Sakura will be happy.

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Far away from where team seven are, a lone ninja is putting a large amount of chakra to his feet so that he can jump faster. He put so much chakra that he actually destroys some weak tree branch due to the amount he put it. After all, he has the largest amount of chakra in Konoha so putting too much to his feet will destroy the weak tree branch when he jumps off.

He has been trying to find Anko for hours now. It is already three in the afternoon and although he has spotted several Gennins, he could not find that sadistic purple haired ninja. He found her attractive but just not his type since she is as big of a pervert as the copy ninja, Kakashi. He wondered why the two never dated.

Maki is also starting to get worried for his comrade since Anko was once a student to that man he is looking for. She may be strong but she will be no match for him. Heck, even the most Maki could do is just wound him and he will die. But maybe if Anko and he work together, they can maybe injure him until he can't move. Maki shook away those thoughts. He has to find Anko first, wherever she is.

It took him another half an hour when he finally felt two large chakras that a Gennin cannot have, except for Naruto. One is larger than the other though and is almost the same as Maki's chakra capacity. He already knows who it belongs to and the one with lower chakra capacity is fighting the one with the larger one.

Maki curses and quickly makes his way to where they are fighting. He takes out one of his unique kunai to prepare for the fight. However, deep down, he hoped he can avoid a fight but when it comes to an opponent such as this, he just might not let them escape that easily.

When he finally reached them, he can see Anko on the ground and clutching her neck. She is talking to someone. Maki narrows his eyes and tries to find his enemy. He should have the element of surprise and he is going to use the full advantage of that.

"Don't cancel the exams or I will destroy Konoha." The voice warns and he can sense that he is leaving.

Maki isn't going to allow that too. As much as he wanted to avoid a fight, he also can't allow him to escape when the ANBU's should be coming shortly. As strong as this man is, he can't possibly fight off all of the ANBU's.

Quickly coming out of his hiding spot, he throws three of his custom kunai's at his enemy. The person is surprised to find Maki there but is able to avoid all three of his unique kunai's; despite the speed that Maki threw it.

All three of Maki's kunai is stuck on the tree bark right behind him and Maki quickly forms a seal.

"Release!"

Instantly, three shadow clones appear where the kunai's are. The man with long hair seems to be surprised and quickly kicks one of the clones in the chest, dispelling it. The other two clones continue fighting with the man but the long haired man is skilled, easily avoiding the attacks and dispelling them. Suddenly, he feels a fist landing on his cheek causing him to crash on the tree bark. The real Maki smiles and forms seals.

"Fire Release! Grand fireball technique!"

Unlike Sasuke's fireball, Maki who has better chakra control and his element being fire, his technique is much more devastating. His fireball is about fifteen metres in diameter and can rival with an Uchiha adult. The last thing that Maki saw is the fireball crashing and destroying where the man was standing.

When the technique is finished, Maki can see that the tree bark has a large hole with black prints all over from the burns. Maki narrows his eyes and knew that his enemy had avoided the technique.

"Impressive," A sick voice said, "For a mere leaf Jounin to hit me square on the face."

Maki turns to face the man with long black hair standing just a few feet away, his arms crossed on his chest.

"So you must be the man known as The Replicator..." The man continues, "I have heard stories about you and the copy ninja. I can tell who the copy ninja is but I did not expect you to be The Replicator, Maki."

"And what makes you think that I am, Orochimaru?" Maki spat, drawing out another kunai.

"You were able to create three shadow clones with ease and you used it by creating them from your kunai's." Orochimaru said, observing Maki, "I am not a Sannin for any reason, fool. Just observing your kunai, I know how you create a kunai. That kunai has a little of your chakra on it and is trapped in a seal. You just have to release the chakra to allow the kunai to create the shadow clone."

Maki grits his teeth. To this day, no one has ever found out how he created the clones. Every night, he would order from a weapon's shop for his kunai and when they are finished, he would take them home and give each of his kunai's a specific amount of chakra to create one shadow clone and then trap the chakra in a seal, only releasing the chakra when he releases it.

"However," Orochimaru continued, "I would like to see how you create shadow clones by getting my blood."

Maki did not say anything and the man laughs, "You leaf ninjas are pathetic. I will leave you alive for now. You are not the invigilator so you have no power to cancel the exams."

With that, Orochimaru left Maki alone with an injured Anko. Maki sighed, knowing that he could not beat him anyway if he continued the fight. He went to Anko who is still clutching the curse seal that was given to her by Orochimaru all those years ago. He sighed and picked her up in his arms, carrying her and making his way to the tower. He looks down at the uncounscious Anko in his arms. He immediately blushed and pulled the trench coat to cover her upper area. He wondered what is wrong with this woman and wearing only a fish net to cover her body.

'What is his objective of being in the forest of death anyway?' Maki thought. He will have to ask all the details from Anko. She must have had a conversation and he did hear Orochimaru say something about not cancelling the exams. If this is true, what are his objectives? He definitely did not come to Konoha just to watch the Gennin exams. And if his eyes did not deceive him, was he actually wearing a headband of the sound?

He continued on jumping troubled with these thoughts and also knowing that the Hokage will have to be reported that his former student, the Snake Sannin is in Konoha. Or as the code word for Orochimaru, Long Orange. It is a strange name but he is not among the ANBU and has no say for this. Not that he cared. Anko stirred a little in his arms, groaning in pain. Maki looks down at her and she opens her eyes a little.

"Maki?" She managed to say softly but lost consciousness once again.

Maki sighed and surved his surroundings. He still far from the tower but he must get there before night falls or it will be really dangerous with all the wild beasts in these lands.

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Night has finally fallen in the dark woods known as the forest of death. It is at this time that is the most dangerous as the wild animals would appear. Now the Gennins must not fend themselves from other ninjas but also the unknown beasts of the forest.

Team seven of the leaf has finally found a place to rest and recover. They are under a tree. The tree's roots are above the ground and they could seek shelter here. It is somewhat like a tent and this will be the best place to wait until Sasuke wakes up. He is still breathing and that is a good sign. They have a fire set up and they placed Sasuke next to the fire to allow Sasuke to feel the heat.

Naruto has his back against on one of the large roots while Ino is sited next to Sasuke, her knees brought up to her chest and her hands hugging her knees. Her chin is rested on her knees and it is obvious that she is very worried about Sasuke.

Just a few hours ago, she has been restlessly scouting ahead of Naruto to make sure that no other ninjas are within the area. Luckily for Naruto, Ino did sense a trio of rain ninjas a few miles to their south and they had to conceal their chakra and hide under the bush. The rain ninjas did not even have any suspicions about them being there.

Naruto had some difficulties in finding them dinner since he too is worried about Sasuke and his body is really tired from carrying Sasuke all day and before that, using quite a lot of chakra and stamina fighting that Grass ninja. He finally caught a few fish in a nearby river. It was enough for Ino and Naruto but right now, Naruto's eyes are getting heavy. He has been fighting to stay awake for the sake of his team.

"Naruto?" Ino looks at Naruto, "Do you think Sasuke will be okay?"

Naruto glanced at Ino and gave his fox grin, "I'm sure he will be fine. If not, I will personally kick his ass!"

Ino giggled. That is what is so special about Naruto. He can even make her smile a little at this kind of situations, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"After all," Naruto shrugs, "He is an Uchiha. An Uchiha like him won't give up his life that easily."

Ino smiles and looks at the uncounscious form of Sasuke. She is also getting worried about the strange mark on Sasuke's neck. She sighs and looks at her blonde team mate in front of her.

"You should get some rest, Naruto." Ino suggested, "You must be tired."

Naruto yawns, "I guess I am. Will you be okay, Ino?"

Ino nodded slowly, "I'll be fine."

Naruto rests his head on his backpack, "Just wake me up if there is a problem, alright?"

Ino nodded and Naruto drifted off to sleep. Ino looks at her two team mates and thought about how much they had actually sacrifised for the team and she was the one that did the least. She hates herself for being such a weakling and is starting to wonder if she is even worthy of being a ninja.

She broke down at that thought, sobbing sofly on her knees. She hugged her knees tighter and she really needed a shoulder to cry on. 'Sakura is really lucky to have a guy that cares for her so much.' Ino thought. She has always had a crush on Sasuke but Sasuke never even noticed her much unless she really shows her ability as a good ninja. She also knows that Sakura is a powerful kunoichi with her genjutsu. She is really starting to have doubts about being a ninja when a familiar voice echoed inside her head.

"Show your team mates that you are an equal and make me proud." Maki had told on their first B-rank mission during the fight with the bandits.

She wipes away her tears and is now filled with determination. She takes out a ninja wire and several exploding tags. She looks down at Sasuke and then at the sleeping Naruto. 'I will make sensei proud and I will show you two that I am an equal. Just watch!' Ino thought.

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"Man that was really troublesome." A tired Shikamaru said as he collapsed on the soft earth.

His team had just defeated an oversized tiger that attacked their camp because it most likely smelled the smell of meat being cooked. Luckily, Sakura had set up several ninja wires that will alert them should anything near their camp and the tiger set one of her traps off.

Since she is a genjutsu specialist, her techniques don't really work on animals so it was only up to Chouji and Shikamaru to fight the large tiger off. Chouji was able to lower the tiger's morale by becoming bigger than the tiger but that was not enough. Shikamaru had to stop the tiger by using his shadow from biting Chouji's head off and then, Chouji finished the tiger off by slicing the neck of the tiger with his kunai.

Right now, Chouji's arm is bleeding pretty badly and Sakura is using what she knows on healing techniques. It was able to stop the bleeding but not the open wound and Sakura had to use three bandages just to cover it up. Chouji winces in pain but he had to endure it or he might get infected.

After eight minutes of binding Chouji with the bandage, Sakura sits back to relax with Shikamaru.

"We have really gone through a lot." Sakura said, relieving her sored muscles.

Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah. I am really tired and I just want to go to sleep."

"You and Chouji rest up first. I'll keep watch." Sakura offers.

"You sure?" Chouji asks, taking out a pack of potato chips.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, you two rest up. I will change shift's with one of you in a few hours from now."

Shikamaru and Chouji nodded and started to rest their tired bodies. Sakura sits on a tree branch overlooking her camp. She surveys her surroundings, making sure that no one would threaten her companions. She also starts to think of a certain blonde boy. She is wondering how he was doing with the test. She knew he won't die since he is strong, stronger than her. She just hoped that he will be okay and they will be reunited with at the tower.


	17. Chuunin exam part II: Sound vs Konoha

**Hei, here is the new chapter. As I said, Maki will not die. Also, I will update the next chapter in two days since tomorrow i will be busy so yeah. So yeah. Also, those who favourite this story or story alert, please drop a review. hehe**

**I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review. **

CHAPTER 17: THE CHUUNIN EXAM II: SOUND VS KONOHA

It is taking him a longer time to get to the tower than he actually expected. The sun is already beginning to rise and he actually expected to reach the tower a few hours ago. But travelling with an uncounscious ninja and having to defend her and yourself from the wild beasts of the forest is quite hard, even for an elite Jounin.

Maki had already killed about three of the oversized tigers and also one large spider which proved to be difficult since it has eight legs. The overgrown spider is one of the toughest creatures to beat but is very limited in number. So only a team with good teamwork can beat the creature. Maki's hands are also getting tired from carrying Anko for hours and she isn't so light even if she is a female.

Maki puts Anko on the soft ground next to a cold river. Maki has not eaten dinner since last night and he is going to get some food now. He looks at Anko's uncounscious form and making sure she is still out cold, Maki proceeds to take off his clothes. The only thing he has left is his boxers and he jumps into the river, trying to catch a couple of fish for dinner. It took him only a few minutes to finally catch three fish.

He got out of the cold water and placed the still moving fish on the ground. Maki sighed. He is going to have to kill the fish before he cooks them so he takes out a kunai and stabs each of the fish. Maki then created a shadow clone to go find some firewood to cook his food.

While the clone went to gather wood, Maki took three sharp sticks and put the stick deep into the fish's mouth so that he can cook it later. The clone returned later with firewood and just dropped it next to Maki. The clone dispelled and Maki used a small fire technique to start a fire. Then, he started to cook his first fish, holding at the end of the stick while the fish is being cooked.

While he was eating his first fish, he glanced at Anko. She seems to be quite uncomfortable and he can't really blame her. The ground is soft and quite dirty. Maki sighed and decided to eat fast so that he can continue on the journey to the tower. He finished eating all three of the fish in just three minutes. He put out the fire and started to dress himself. After that, he picked up Anko and jumped to a tree branch and jumped to the next tree branch with great speed.

After about an hour of jumping, he finally sighted the tower. He landed on the ground and started to walk there. He opened the great doors and started to make his way to a resting room so that he can allow Anko to be attended by medic nins. Several ANBU's passed by the hallway and looked at Anko. He can tell, even though their faces are covered by the mask, that they are shocked to see the sadistic Jounin uncounscious. Yes, she is a strong ninja and is rarely seen like this.

He found a room and carefully placed her on a bed. He realised that her trench coat is dirty and he will have to remove it. He sighed, closed his eyes and started to remove the coat. She shifted a little and actually moaned. Maki did not even want to know what she is thinking about right now. He successfully took off the coat from her and threw it into a laundry basket. He then walked to the door and walked out of the room, making sure to carefully close the door as to not disturb her.

"How is she?" A voice asked, startling Maki.

Maki turns to face a man wearing a white uniform and white pants. He recognised the uniform as a medic nin. "She is okay for now," Maki told the medic nin, "She doesn't have much injuries. The palm of her left hand seemed to be stabbed by a kunai but her injury is due to the seal."

"The curse seal?" The medic nin asks to confirm it.

Maki nodded, "Yeah. That man is in Konoha. You treat Anko but tell me where the Hokage is?"

Before the medic nin could answer, two puff's of smoke appeared beside Maki. One ison his left and the other are on his right. Two ANBU's appeared and they are standing rather than what most ANBU's do, kneeling. This shows that the ANBU are either better than that ninja or an equal. The previous day, the ANBU must have been lower in skills to be kneeling at Maki but this two must be strong.

Maki looks at the two ANBU and he recognises the ANBU's as special black ops. They are the extremely skilled ANBU. One of them is wearing a cat mask and the other is wearing a hawk mask.

"Maki, the Hokage wishes to speak with you." The one with the hawk mask said.

Maki nodded, "I was about to go and look for him."

"Follow me." The other ANBU said, leading the way.

Maki followed the ANBU as they climbed up a fleet of steps. Maki know that the tower is quite big and has a lot of floors. The Hokage is most likely on the top floor. Maki was right as they finally reached the top floor and only one door is in front of them. Two more ANBU's are guarding the door and when they spotted the ANBU guiding Maki, they stepped aside to let them through.

"The Hokage is in the room." The ANBU guiding Maki said.

"I can tell," Maki replied, "So I assume I will be going in alone?"

The ANBU nodded and walked back down the stairs. Maki watched the ANBU walking down and pitied him. He had to guide Maki all the way up and just to leave him here and then walk all the way down. That is why he never wanted to join the ANBU. It is true you can receive tougher missions but most of the time, you are just like servants.

He opened the door and found the room almost exactly like the room in the Hokage tower. The Hokage is looking out the window, overlooking the forest of death. Maki clears his throat and the Hokage turns to face the pink haired Jounin.

"Maki," The Hokage started, "Have you not learned your manners?"

Maki rubbed his head, "I always seem to forget, Hokage-sama."

"Even knocking the door seems like pulling teeth for you," The Hokage grumbles, "And I would actually love to lecture you again but there is something else that needs more attention."

Maki stood at full attention and the Hokage continues, "You and Anko are the only ninja that encountered him. What can you tell me?"

"Not much, Hokage-sama," Maki answers, "Anko-san should have more information than I. He seems to be talking to her when I reached them and the only thing he told me is not to stop the exams."

"To not stop the exams?" The Hokage questions.

Maki nodded, "That is what he told me. But I am sure that Anko-san should have the details. After all, she being the student once, perhaps he would have told her something."

The Hokage rubs his chin, "I don't know what he is planning but it can't be good."

"So what do we do?" Maki asks although it was more of a statement.

The Hokage looks at Maki, "For now, we will do what he wish and not stop the exams. However, I am going to put the ANBU's on high alert." The Hokage paused, "And Maki?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Now would be a good time to put your large amount of chakra to good use." The Hokage stated.

Maki looks confused, "What do you mean?"

"I want you to create at least about twenty to forty clones and then transform them to civilians and have them patrol the village. If they hear or see anything suspicuous, they are to dispell themself and you are to report to me."

Maki nodded once more, "Understood, Hokage-sama."

"Good. You are excused."

Maki bowed low and walked out of the room. He starts to walk down the stairs and thinking on what to do. He will have to create the clones below where there is open space and send them back to Konoha.

He also hoped that his two students that he has been training personally for two years are okay. This exam is also tough and actually is the most diffucult compared to the other two. He sighed heavily, looking out a window at the large trees.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sun had risen twenty minutes ago and the team of Genins had already moved out, heading to the tower or hunting other teams that might have the scroll that they need. However, out of all of the teams, one specific team is not moving. Not because they are injured but because they have to protect a team member that will die if they ae not there to protect them.

Ino had finally fallen asleep about two hours ago, waking up Naruto to just tell him that she needed to rest. He of course, agreed since he had enough rest. Ino had told him to not go anywhere since she had already set up some traps and she could not tell him now since she was too tired. And despite the growling sounds coming from Naruto's stomach, he did not dare move.

He continued looking out for enemy ninjas within the area. With his team at a very weakened state would be the worst of times to have a fight with other ninjas, especially if the ninja is something like that Grass ninja. Naruto still couldn't believe that a Gennin can be that strong and it somehow seems like he is stronger than their sensei.

Naruto shook those troubling thoughts away. It was giving him a headache and he has to concentrate. They now have two heaven scrolls but not a single earth scroll yet which they need. It has already been two days since they entered the forest of death and some of the teams must have already reached the tower by now. Especially that team from the sand he had met about five days ago.

'I wonder how strong that team really is. Especially the guy with the red hair, he seems to be a really strong guy.' Naruto thought.

The sound of footsteps startled him. He quickly drew out a kunai and paying close attention at the bushes and the trees. He could have sworn he heard something. He could tell that the sound was quite far but he somehow heard it. He decided to make sure that it was not his imagination and quickly threw a shuriken at some bushes and forms a familiar seal.

"Shuriken shadow replication technique!"

The shuriken that Naruto tossed instantly created about twenty more shurikens. All twenty of them passed through the bush with nothing moving. Naruto sighed in relief, pushing away the thought that it was just his imagination that he had heard something. Naruto looks at his two team mates.

Ino seems to be sleeping peacefully next to Sasuke. She seems so peaceful while Sasuke looks like he is grunting in pain. Whatever that Grass ninja did to him must be really painful. Now, Naruto didn't even care if he passed the exams and become a Chuunin. He is really worried about his friend here.

Suddenly, four kuani's emerged from the trees and Naruto was able to block and avoid all of them.

"Ino! We are under attack!" Naruto yells as he jumps out from their hiding place.

Ino quickly woke up but she did not know what is going on. She is still dazed and confused about what is going on. She looks at Naruto who is standing outside with a kunai in his hands. 'What is Naruto doing?' Ino thought.

"Ino! Get out of there!" Naruto yells once more as another wave of shurikens and kunai's are thrown at Naruto as he jumps away.

Ino quickly draws out a kunai and jumps out to defend Sasuke and help Naruto. Despite not really knowing what is going on, she had to help her blonde team mate. She stands next to him with a kunai drawn out.

"Who's attacking us?" Ino asks quietly.

Naruto continued surveying their surroundings for the enemy, "I don't know. These shurikens and kunai's just suddenly come flying at me."

Just like Naruto said, another wave of shurikens is thrown at them and this time more than the previous. It is getting harder for Naruto to dodge all of these attacks and frustrated, he quickly forms seals.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Naruto has created four clones and all four run forward while Naruto forms another set of seals.

"Wind release! Scars of the wind technique!"

This technique covers a large area. The wind is blown forward and starts cutting whatever that blocks its path. The wind is now as sharp as a sword as it is scratches the bark of a tree and also destroying bushes. When it finally reached at a tree branch, three figures jumped out of the way to avoid the attack. Naruto saw this and they are currently above him and will land right behind him. The four clones quickly guard his back while he performs another set of seals.

"Wind release! Air bullet!"

Naruto spits out a large kind of ball at all three of the shadowy figures as they throw several shurikens at Naruto. The clones of Naruto take the hit, only leaving one of the clones left to defend Naruto. The air bullet was able to hit one of his targets, causing it to crash on a tree while the other two was somehow able to destroy his technique with some kind of invisible wave.

The two lands right behind Naruto and they are a few metres away from Naruto. Naruto turns to face them with the clone in front of Naruto. Ino is also standing next to Naruto but looking up, making sure that the one up there is not coming back yet.

"You're quite skilled, brat." One of the assailants says.

Naruto and Ino recognised the two of them. The two are from the village of the sound. One of them has spiky black hair while the other one was the one that attacked Kabuto at the first part of the Chuunin's exam. His face is covered with bandages, only revealing his right eye and his right arm has some kind of device.

"What do you guys want?" Naruto asks, narrowing his eyes.

"We have come here to complete our objectives." The one with the bandaged face said.

"Shouldn't you be worried about your team mate?" Ino asks.

The black haired boy snorts, "Our objectives are much more important than her or this test."

"More important than the test?" Naruto is even more confused now.

The bandaged face nodded, "Our objective here is to kill the Uchiha kid over there," He points at Sasuke under the tree root, "And we will kill whoever it is that blocks our path."

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger, "As if you can kill us so easily."

The sound of a girl screaming and the sound of the scream right next to Naruto scared him. He turns to face Ino but she is lying on the ground, clutching her left shoulder. There are about four needles with a bell deep in her left shoulder. Naruto turns to face his enemies but this time, there are three of them. The third one, a girl with long black hair is with them but she seems to be injured, blood stains on her right arm.

Suddenly, the boy with spiky black hair charges at Naruto and swings his arm. Naruto quickly ducks and tries to counter by doing an upper-cut but the boy easily grabs Naruto's wrist and punches Naruto on the gut, hard. Naruto coughed out blood and the sound ninja lets go of Naruto and kicks Naruto once again. Naruto lands a few feet away, blood on his mouth and pain on his gut. He looks at the black haired ninja open the palm of his two hands, revealing small holes on the palm.

"Zankuhaa!" (**Sorry, but I don't know the translation for this technique**)

A large amount of air pressure is coming out of the holes and is coming right at Naruto. 'Shit, I'll get injured badly if I get hit by this technique.' Naruto thought as he stands up but he is too slow as the wave is coming right at him. Just at the last minute, someone grabs him by the waist and pulls him to the side, avoiding the technique.

Naruto lands on his side. He is still confused and he looks at Ino, who is still holding onto him by the waist.

"Are you alright?" Ino asks, panting.

Naruto nodded dumbly, "Yeah. Thanks, Ino."

Before Ino could reply, several needles are coming right at her and she was able to block them with her kunai while Naruto rolls away as a wave of needles are also thrown at him. Ino glances at the enemy but she could only see the girl and the black haired boy. 'Where's the masked guy?' Ino thought, looking around.

"Ino, behind you!" Naruto yells, pointing at something behind Ino.

Ino turns around only to feel a fist hitting her left cheek, blood splurting out of her mouth from the punch and also a black bruise from the punch. She crashes on the earth two times before she lands right next to Naruto, groaning in pain.

Naruto draws out a kunai, "We are in big trouble here."

"Don't worry," Ino assures Naruto in pain, "We just need them to get to my trap to win this fight."

Naruto looks at her, "You got a plan?"

Ino nodded. Naruto smiled and stood up, cracking his neck and knuckles.

"Alright, let's do this!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki is in a resting room, relaxing and enjoying the warmth from the fire in front of him. Only certain resting rooms is provided with fire places and since Maki was tired from carrying Anko while defending her from the beast, he was given this place by the Hokage and Maki aprreciated it, a lot.

Maki sighed in relief and looked around his room. He has already tried the bed which was soft and comfy. The chair he is sitting on now is also as soft and can actually put him to sleep if he was really tired. Also in the room are several pictures of Konoha but one particular picture is the nine tails demon fox with a large frog facing the demon fox and a blonde man on the frog's head.

Maki clenched his fist in anger when he realised something is not on the picture. They got everything correct except at that time; the fourth should be seen carrying a blonde baby with him. It is because of the lie that Naruto has suffered for five years until he rescued Naruto from a group of angry mob. He didnt even want to know what Naruto had to go through when he was just an infant. He is probably still alive now thanks to the healing ability of the demon fox within him.

Just looking at the portrait of that day also brought him some sad memories. A memory of the last thing his loving brother asked of him. A favour asked from the elder brother to a younger brother.

Flashback

After Maki handed in the child of the fourth, he made his way to the front gate of Konoha where the nine tails demon has been defeated. He should be making his way back to his house but he had to see him one last time. The Hokage has already confirmed which ninjas are dead or which one will be dying with no chance of surviving. On that list, is his big brother and he is still at the front gates, on the ground being attenteded to by medics. He can tell that the medics are trying their best but the wound on his chest is too deep. They also have to heal the other ninjas and pick up the dead. He reached his brother and the medics look up at him.

The leader of that squad shook his head, signifying that they have already done what they can. Maki can feel a pain in his heart. In his room, there is a picture of him and his brother when he became Jounin and Himura. Now, he will be the only left in that picture that still lives in Konoha.

His brother, Hanaki, with blood still slowly flowing out of his chest and mouth, turns to look at his younger brother. His eyes are already half closed. Maki gets on his knees and holds his brother's hand tightly, a tear rolling down his cheek. He can feel that the pulse is getting weaker on his wrist. The medics leave Maki alone and started to tend to the other ninjas that can be saved.

"Is this... it... for me?" Hanaki asks weakly, knowing the answer.

Maki shook his head, giving him a weak smile, "This is the end of your first journey, ni-san. You will begin your second journey soon."

Hanaki cougs out blood again, "You... always... say something... to... make me... smile, Maki."

Maki wiped away a tear, "I'm sorry I didn't come on time, ni-san. If I came earlier, I could have..."

"What... coud you... have done?" Hanaki asks softly. Maki has no answer and Hanaki smiles, "Don't... blame my... death... on you."

Maki nodded, "I won't."

Hanaki cougs again, "I have... one final... request..."

"What is it?"

Hanaki looks at Maki in the eyes knowing that this will be the last thing he will see before his soul goes to the next world, "I... need you... to... take care of... my family. And... my daughter."

"I will ni-san. I will take care of them as if they are my family." Maki chocked out.

Hanaki smiled and his eyes starts to close and the last thing he could see is his little brother crying on his hand. 'I know I never told you this, brother, but I am proud that you are now a top Jounin of our home. You make me proud.' Hanaki thought to himself. He closed his eyes for the last time and will never open again.

Maki spend the next twenty minutes weeping on the lost of his older brother. He has always been a role model to him and can never hope for a better brother. He has already heard that his parents died and are being burried but he couldn't leave his brother's side yet. After twenty minutes, he could feel a hand on his shoulder. This surprised him and he turns to face his friend, Kakashi.

"Kakashi?" He asks, still sobbing.

"I know the feelings of lost, Maki." Kakashi stated, "I too, have always blamed the death of my team mates on myself and I still do. However, your brother's death is not yours to be blamed. He fought a demon and he died proudly as a shinobi defending his home."

Maki wiped away his tears and nodded, "Thank you, Kakashi."

He let go of his brother's hand and watched as medics pick up his dead brother's body. This will be the las time he will look at his brother. The man whom is said to be the best user in genjutsu to be born in Konoha. He has even created a forbidden genjutsu which he only used once and Maki can tell that the person who faced it must have suffered since he actually died from brain trauma. Of course, the technique also hurt Hanaki himself by falling uncounsious for three days.

Now, he will have to face his sister-in law and he knew that she will be troubled by his brother's death for days since she loved him very much. The two would have made the perfect family but now, he will have to take his brother's place. The only difference is that he cannot provide Suyuki with things that only his brother, as her husband can give in the bedroom. He did not want to know what they do.

End of Flashback

Maki has his eyes closed as he thought back about the sad memories of his brother's death. He hoped that he has done the best he can in providing his brother's family with the needs. He knew that he has helped a lot with Sakura but Suyuki has always been the difficult one.

Despite being so lost in thought, he heard the door of his room opening and he turns to face who it is. And that person didn't even knock on his door. When the person opened enough, he can see who it is. He is surprised that she would come to see him since they are not that close. However, he will just have to see what she wants.

"Anko-san, what brings you here?" He asks nicely.

Anko did not answer but instead grabs Maki by the back of his neck, bringing his face awfully close to hers. "Anko-san, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Anko smiles seductively, "You didn't think I would let you get away without saying thank you, did you?"

Maki just decides to act dumb, it has always worked, "What are you talking about?"

"Playing dumb with me, eh? That won't work with me." Anko purred in his ears and although this would affect most men, he did not.

"Look Anko-san," Maki said, taking her hands off of his neck, "You are a ninja and you will get injured from one time to another so it shouldn't be such a big deal on who saved you. You would have been found by ANBU's anyway if I didn't come."

Anko however, does not let her prey go and so far; Maki has been the most difficult by far. She has been trying to get into his pants for three years now, despite not being that close to him which will have a much higher advantage.

Anko pouts, "I am just going to give a simple thank you present."

Anko rolls his eyes, "I don't want to know what that is."

"I think you do." She replies, walking towards him and swaying her hips.

Before Maki could walk away, Anko suddenly grabs the back of his neck and suddenly kisses him on the lips. Maki is too shocked and if she wasn't kissing him, his jaw would be opened wide. Anko realised that his mouth is a little open and puts that to her advantage and quickly sticks her toungue in, tasting his mouth. Maki is not reacting but Anko is enjoying herself and couldn't imagine if he actually kissed back. She slowly pushed him to the bed and Maki realised it.

He pushes her away, wiping his lips, "What the hell was that for?"

Anko smirks, licking her lips, "A thank you gift. And I guess I took your first kiss?"

Maki glares at her, "Nope, you're a day late but damn it, Anko! Get out of my room!"

Anko is shocked to have never seen this side of Maki. She has heard from women in the village that Maki is a nice man and would turn down their dates nicely. Heck, even Kakashi, his closest friend said that he treats people with respect. She slowly walks out of the room. However, unaware of the two is that someone had seen the whole thing and she is clearly upset. She did not hear what they are talking about but that kiss said everything she just needed to know.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto continues assaulting the boy with the mask while Ino tries her best to avoid all the attacks by the black haired boy and girl. Naruto had to fight the strongest one since Ino won't last with him. Naruto is also having trouble with his enemy since the opponent seems to specialise in one on one combat. Naruto and his three clones continue their assault and when they successfully cause him to jump away, Naruto quickly initiates the plan.

He sent his three clones to chase the mased boy while he goes and help Ino. The masked boy is too busy defending himself from the clones while the other two are concentrating too much in their fight. Naruto quickly forms seals.

"Wind release! Sound of the breeze technique!"

A wave of air pushes out of Naruto's feet and it touches the two enemies while Ino quickly jumps up. The two are unable to move.

"What the hell is going on?" Zaku yells in frustration.

Ino smirks and quickly forms the seal of her family to do the technique.

"Mind transfer technique!"

The girl suddenly seems to be stunned while Ino drops to the ground. Naruto smiles and when when they finally can move, Ino in the girl's body, quickly lunges at Zaku, much to his shock. Ino is able to plunge her kunai deep into Zaku's gut.

"Kin! What the hell?!" Zaku yells as he drops to the ground, coughing out blood.

Ino smiles and throws a kunai at a tree. The kunai cuts a ninja wire and suddenly a log is coming down on Zaku. The masked boy is also having trouble with Naruto's clones and when one of Naruto's clone kicks the masked boy to a tree,several explosion tag explodes where the boy was.

"We did it!" Ino squeels happily inside the sound girl's body.

Naruto smiled but he somehow could tell something is wrong. He turns at where Zaku was only a log is there. Zaku is seen next to the log with a man carrying him. Naruto could see from the headband that they are from the Grass village. He turns to look at where the masked boy was only to find the boy on the ground next to him.

"You guys are taking too long to eliminate the Uchiha kid." The one next to Zaku said.

"Hei, these leaf brats are pretty good." Zaku protested.

The man to the masked boy snorts, "Fine, let's finish them and then take care of the Uchiha."

All four of them charge at Naruto and Ino's uncounscious form. Ino might still be in the Sound girl's body but she will need her body to go back. Ino sensed this as well and quickly releases her technique, her real body gaining counsciousness. She is able to avoid a kunai thrown at her and jumps next to Naruto.

Naruto and Ino watch in horror as all four of their enemies come at them until something happened. They all stopped just when they were just a few feet away. The masked boy looked confused.

"My... body... I can't... move." He said, struggling to move.

Naruto and Ino are confused when three figures emerged from the shadows. Naruto recognised them immediately the moment he saw her. She seems to be doing okay with just a few cuts and dirt on her body.

"Man, this is so troublesome," Shikamaru said yawning and the four people caught in his shadow did the same thing, yawning, "But I don't think it is fair that you Sound and Grass ninjas should work together."

"Damn you!" One of the Grass ninja yells.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Sakura asks worriedly as she lands next to him.

Naruto smiles, "I've been better but now that I have seen you, I think I feel even better."

Sakura smiles and gives a small peck on the lips. Naruto is quite surprised that she gave their first kiss here. Sakura enjoyed looking at Naruto's shocked expression. Ino watched the loving couple and wished Sasuke would do that with her.

"Alright, let's take care of these idiots." Shikamaru said, cracking his neck.

"Wait," Ino said as she jumped at one of the Grass ninjas, "Maybe they have an earth scroll."

Luckily for them, the Sound girl ninja seems to be uncounsciouss so they have no one attacking them. Also, Naruto's team is in luck when Ino is able to find a scroll black in colour from the Sound ninja known as Zaku. He growls angrily but he couldn't do anything. Ino jumps back to Naruto, who has his arm wrapped around Sakura's waist.

"Now can we take care of them?" Shikamaru asks with a bored expression on his face.

"Yeah, let's do this!" Naruto said energetically.

Shikamaru releases the technique as Sakura casts a genjutsu on all four of them. They seem to be momentarilly paralysed and this gave Naruto the time to do his high level wind technique. He quickly jumps back and the others followed, knowing he is going to do a powerful technique.

"Wind release! Bleeding force!"

The four of them are caught in the blast and some of them should be killed by the blast since they have no time to try and block it. They should be suffering from major wounds with large cuts on their chest and hands. Naruto, Sakura and Ino lands on ground, next to the tree where Sasuke is resting, his face still in pain due to the mark on his neck.

The three of them crawl under the tree and look at Sasuke in pain.

"What's wrong with him?" Sakura asks.

"We were attacked by a Grass ninja yesterday and he gave him a mark on his neck. We think it is the mark that is doing this." Naruto explains.

Sakura examines the mark for a few seconds and then turned to Naruto and Ino, "I definitely can't treat his injury with so little knowledge on healing. We need professional medics."

"Then we have to get to the tower quickly." Ino suggested and the couple nodded.

Naruto picks up Sasuke while Ino and Sakura crawl outside the tree to find Shikamaru and Chouji waiting for them. Sakura explains what happened to Sasuke and Shikamaru suggested they travel together. Team seven of course agreed since they only have two members left.

While team seven and team ten jump from tree branch to tree branch, two members, each one from the team are lagging behind, enjoying a conversation.

"I have been worried about you." Naruto said, looking at the pink haired beauty next to him.

Sakura smiles, "I'm okay but you sure don't look like it."

Naruto chuckles, "Yeah, I thought I was actually going to die fighting those Sound ninjas. They are strong but it is thanks to you guys we were okay."

Sakura smiled, "We heard fighting while we were making our way to the tower and decided to check it out. I didn't expect it to be your team and I could see you and Ino were desperate."

Naruto nodded, "Oh, we were. Sasuke is our ninjutsu specialist so without him, we already lack in strength." He looks at Sakura's eyes, "But I was saved by an angel."

Sakura giggles, "You always have a way with words."

Suddenly, Sakura was pushed to a tree with Naruto in front of her, looking deep into her eyes. Sakura is also lost looking into his blue cereluen eyes.

"You still smell good, Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a low voice.

Sakura shivered, "Naruto-kun, we have to go."

Naruto smirks, "Fine, but first..."

Naruto leaned forward and captured Sakura in the lips. Sakura seems shocked at first but then returned the kiss and the two were lost in their own world. Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his neck to pull him deeper while Naruto took a step forward to be closer to her, his hands on her hips.

After a minute of kissing each other, the two stopped the kiss due to a lack of oxygen. Naruto looks at Sakura in the eyes and smiled, "I wanted my second kiss to be at least much more memorable."

Sakura smiled, "What's wrong with the first kiss?"

"It was too quick."

With that, Naruto and Sakura kissed again, not caring about where they are. They spent another two minutes kissing each other when they realised they had to catch up with their team mates. When they finally caught up, they found them waiting by a tree branch.

"Troublesome," That was what Shikamaru said when he saw them and they continued on making their way to the tower.


	18. Chuunin exam part II: End of test 2

**Hei everyone, here is the update! I have nothing much to say but I have a question to ask you guys and I hope you can help.**

**I read a Doujinshi(In case you guys don't know, it is fanfiction but has pictures, like a manga) and ever since then, I have become addicted to Doujinshi's. Can anyone tell me where I can read DOujinshi? Not hentai's though and I would even appreciate even more if it is a NaruSaku pairing.**

**And a side note is that I am also now going to write a High school fic regarding Naruto and yes, pairing will still be NaruSaku. I will not settle for any other pairings when I write naruto fics.**

**Now, please read and I hope you enjoy this chapter. And review**

CHAPTER 18: CHUUNIN EXAM II: END OF TEST 2

It has been three days since the Gennins had entered the forest of death for the second part of the exam and during those three days, only one team made it to the tower and in record time too. They are the ninjas from the sand village and their Jounin leader, Himura was proud of them.

Most of the ninjas that are present in the tower are shocked to find that a Gennin team can finish the second part of the exam so quickly. It would take an experienced Chuunin to get here that fast and that is without finding a team to steal a scroll from. Even the ANBU's were surprised even though their faces cannot be seen. Most of the ninjas complemented Himura on training such a great team.

Maki is also impressed. He had always taught that his team is the best ever since defeating that Rock Chuunin on their B-rank mission but it seems that there are other more powerful Gennins and the teacher is actually the love of his life. 'Perhaps she is stronger than me." Maki thought as he watched some ninja asking Himura questions.

He is still feeling guilty that he had 'cheated' on Himura, although he was unwilling. It is strange but it is as if Himura is avoiding him. Then again, she has been surrounded by other ninjas asking her how she trained her team so maybe she is busy. After all, why would she be mad at him after they shared that kiss?

"Lost in thoughts, are we?" A voice said from behind, startling Maki.

Maki turns to face the man behind and instantly recognised him, "Asuma, you scared me there."

Asuma takes out a cigarette and lights it, "What were you thinking." He asks and then inhales the cigarette.

Maki looks at Himura, "Nothing much."

Asuma blows out a small amount of black smoke, "You always didn't know much about love. Perhaps you need some help?"

Maki chuckles, "What makes you say that? I love that woman for as long as I can remember. Why would I need help?"

Asuma shrugs, "It seems she has been avoiding you."

Maki sighs, "So you have noticed it as well?"

"It has been pretty obvious but she could also be tired from all the questioning she has been getting from the other ninjas."

Maki looks at his friend, "Perhaps." He paused for a moment, "How are you and Kurenai?"

"We are okay so far. I plan on taking things slow since I really plan to have a family with her." Asuma replies.

Maki raises an eyebrow, "If you do that, we will lose a good Jounin."

"Look," Asuma said, "I have to go now. I have to meet up with the old man. He said he had to give me a mission or something."

With that, Asuma left the pink haired ninja alone. Maki laughed to himself since Asuma is just finding an excuse to stop the small chit chat. Jounin instructors are not receiving any missions, especially to the ones that have their Gennin teams in the exam. He shakes his head and looks at Himura who is done talking with that Mist ninja. Taking a deep breath, he approaches Himura.

"Hei, Himura-chan!" Maki cheerfully greets the brown haired Sand ninja.

She turns to face him and for a split second there, Maki could see a hint of anger? However, her expression quickly changed, "Oh, Maki-kun! Is there anything I can help you with?"

'That's strange. Since when is she... like so formal?' Maki thought.

"Nothing," Maki said, "I just can't believe that you were able to train a team until this stage."

Himura laughs, "Oh, it's not all my teachings, actually. My team are just good by themselves."

"Are you being modest?" Maki asked, "Because that's not like you."

Himura laughs once again, "Oh, I am telling you the truth, Maki-kun. They are very strong on their own, even before I was assigned to them."

Maki at first didn't want to believe her. Even the most talened ninjas, like the three Sannin's, were not this good. Then again, maybe the new generation is just getting better.

"Care to join me for a walk?" Maki asks, smiling.

Himura shook her head, "I'm sorry, Maki-kun, but I really have to go. I have to meet someone."

Maki nodded understandingly, "Fine, not like I can stop you anyway."

Himura simply smiles and starts walking on the opposite direction. Maki just stood there and watched her leave. He sighed and is starting to think what he might have done wrong with Himura. It is true that he had sort of kissed with Anko but he sensed no one was there. However, whether he sensed someone was there or not is not the issue since he never planned to kiss the purple haired Jounin. Maki is getting really frustrated with Himura. Maybe she really does need to see someone and is not because she wants to avoid him. He hopes that is the reason.

Maki makes his way to his room so that he can relax himself. He starts to get worried about Naruto and Sakura again. He knew he shouldn't be doing this since they are capable ninjas already. But the thought of the snake Sannin in the forest of death just keeps bringing up those thoughts. Maki reached the door of his room and opens it and then locking the door behind him. He keeps on doing that ever since that stupid kiss with Anko.

He looks at the picture of the fourth Hokage fighting the kyuubi again. He has been doing this a lot lately. It keeps bringing back memories of his loving brother and although he no longer sheds any tears, it does hurt him. He would have rather died than his brother since his brother has a family while he is still single. Although Sakura loves him a lot, she would have prefered her father more. Hanaki is a good man. He clenched his fists angrily until his knuckles turned white. 'What would happen if I died instead of him?' Maki thought.

He can see it now, the image of Hanaki holding Sakura by the arms when she was five years old and his lovely wife by his side. They would be at the memorial stone where ninjas died in battle would be placed and would pay their respects to Maki's name engraved there. Maki smiled at the thought. That would have been a better picture than now, where Suyuki is now alone, Sakura never having the love of a real father. And the one to take care of them is a person who cannot love Suyuki like Hanaki did and Sakura may be still related to Maki by blood, she is not the direct descendant. Maki sighs but he still smiled. 'But at least Sakura is happy.' Maki thought.

Also, what Kakashi said before he died has also helped him from blaming himself for his death. That he died proudly as a shinobi protecting his homeland from a demon. It would be a disgrace to Hanaki if Maki continued to grieve on his death when he has already died the best way a shinobi would have wanted. Maki smiled at that thought.

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Not far from the tower, six ninjas have been travelling for hours now to get here. The two teams have been working together ever since the Sound ninjas and Grass ninjas seem to be working together. After that, they have easily beaten teams that stood in their path. And now that the two have both scrolls needed to pass the exam, they can get to the tower and rest up while waiting for the next two days before the exam finishes.

Sakura and Naruto have also been enjoying each other's company. This is the first time they can see how the other performs on a real life battle situation. Naruto is impressed that she can cast genjutsu's even faster now and most of the enemies that they have encountered didn't even know they have been caught by a genjutsu. Naruto is starting to wonder if he is going to lose to her the next time they spar since Naruto is quite careless when it comes to fighting people that uses genjutsu's.

Sakura herself is also impressed of her blonde headed boyfriend. Their last fight with Mist ninjas showed that he is both good at Wind techniques and close combat thanks to the use of his shadow clones. She being a genjutsu user will have her problems facing a ninja like him since if she casts her genjutsu on a clone, it will leave her vulnerable and she will be defeated. 'His use of shadow clones is getting better and better.' Sakura thought proudly as she jumped off another tree branch.

'**You got that right! Maybe he can even rival uncle Maki, huh?'** Inner Sakura said.

'No way! I'm not saying that Naruto is weak but uncle Maki has experienced and his speciality is with the use of shadow clones.' Sakura thought back.

'**So? I'm sure Naruto-kun can beat him in a few years time.' **Inner Sakura thought.

'In a few years time, that's possible. But for now, he won't be able to be a match with uncle Maki. Besides, we haven't even seen him fight for real. And I've already researched about his B-rank mission two weeks ago. Uncle Maki took out Dawari of the rock!' Sakura replies in thought.

'**Who the heck is that?'** Inner Sakura asks.

'I don't know much but from the information I have got, Dawari of the rock is one of the top Jounins of the Rock village and has taken out almost every ninja in a one on one fight. And the mission report stated that uncle Maki beat Dawari in a one on one fight!' Sakura thought.

Sakura felt a little guilty that she sneaked into her uncle's room to see the mission report he was supposed to hand in to the Hokage that day. Her uncle was always late in doing these kinds of things and she was able to read that he beat Dawari of the rock in a one on one combat. That is when she researched about Dawari.

Sakura is brought back to the real world when she sighted a red building in front of them. She sees her team and team seven lands on the soft ground below and she follows suit, landing next to Naruto. Naruto glances at her and gives his foxy grin. She simply smiles and then they start to make their way to the tower. Sakura can see that Naruto looks tired from carrying Sasuke for hours.

Sasuke has still not woken up from his injured state. She is quite surprised that Sasuke can be this hurt since he is an equal to Naruto. She was glad that it did not happen to Naruto.

"Man," Shikamaru says as he leads the group, "Three troublesome days in the forest can really take a toll on your body."

"Here," Chouji offers a bag of potato chip, "You really need to eat more, Shikamaru. Your brain must hurt from thinking of those strategies for three days straight."

Shikamaru smiles and accepts the bag, "Thanks Chouji."

Shikamaru opens the bag of potato chips and starts eating the junk food, unaware that a certain blonde girl was watching him the whole time. Ino has been impressed that Shikamaru is actually a genius since he always did so badly in the exams at the academy.

They finally reach the great doors of the tower. Here is where they are stuck. None of them know what to do from here. On the door are two sentences that none bothered to read. Everyone keeps looking at each other, hoping that they know what to do but none have any ideas. Even Shikamaru, the leader of the group does not know what to do.

"So, now what?" Naruto finally says, breaking the silence.

"I have no idea." Shikamaru replies lazily and for once, he is actually telling the truth. Normally when he says that, he will start thinking of a plan but this time, he is clueless.

"Hei," Sakura chimed in, "What about these scrolls we have?"

Sakura has the heaven and earth scroll in her hands, "I mean," She continues, "I'm sure we were given this for a reason, right?"

"Well," Shikamaru started to think, "They never really said anything about what we should do about the scrolls, just that we can't open them."

"Maybe we should open them now?" Sakura said, looking closely at the heaven scroll.

"Alright," Shikamaru said, crossing his arms on his chest, "But if we fail because of you, it's your fault."

Sakura simply shrugged and opened the heaven scroll. Nothing happened and everyone breathed out in relief but it is not over yet. Sakura is now holding the earth scroll and then opens it. At first, nothing happened but suddenly, a puff of smoke appears where the scrolls are lying on the ground.

Then, a man appears, each of his feet standing on one scroll. Both team look at the man and instantly recognised the man. How could they forget their academy teacher?

"Iruka-sensei!" Both teams said together, except for Shikamaru since he was too lazy and Sasuke who is still unconscious.

Iruka has a broad grin on his face, "I see you have passed the test!"

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto said excitedly, "How come you can appear from the scrolls?"

Iruka laughs, "This two are summoning scrolls. When you open the two scrolls at the tower, a Chuunin will appear to congratulate you. And I was chosen to congratulate team ten." He looks at team seven, "It seems you guys worked together to pass the test."

"Is that wrong?" Ino asks, worried that they cheated.

Iruka shook his head, "Anko did not state that rule, right? So it means you guys did not do anything wrong."

"Hei," Naruto had a question popped in his head, "Then who is the person that is supposed to greet us?"

Iruka shrugged, "Why don't you find out? There are so many Chuunin selected to greet a team that I don't know."

Naruto quickly starts searching for the two scrolls required but it was difficult in doing so since he is still carrying Sasuke. While he was doing that, Sakura stepped forward to their former teacher in the academy.

"Then, Iruka-sensei," Sakura asked, "What would happen if we open only one of the scrolls in the forest?"

Iruka now turned serious, "You should know that this exam is to see if you have what it takes to become a Chuunin. And one thing about being a Chuunin is that sometimes you are entrusted with a scroll that you must not open at all costs. This is one of the things we test, to see if you are obeying the orders."

Sakura frowned, "That did not answer my question."

"Well," Iruka continues, "If you open one or two of the scrolls in the forest, the Chuunin that is supposed to greet you at the tower will still appear but with different orders. We are ordered to knock you out until the exams are over."

Sakura gulps. She didn't know that Konoha could be so harsh. This must have been the orders from the Hokage. But then again, what Iruka said did make sense. If you cannot be trusted, how you can be a Chuunin when that is what is required of you. She then started thinking what it would the third test be? Both tests have been about team work which her team is already good at. So what could the third test be?

She is brought out of her thoughts when a puff of smoke is once again created but this time it is coming in front of Naruto. They also recognised the man although they have not really got acquainted. He is normally on guard duty at the gate with brown hair.

"Hei," The man says, "Congratulations for passing the second test of the Chuunin's exam!"

"I already did that, Izumo-san." Iruka said, catching the brown haired Chuunin by surprise.

"Iruka-san?" Izumo has shock written all over his face, "I didn't know our scrolls summon two Chuunins."

Iruka sighs, "It doesn't. It seems that two teams worked together to pass the test."

Izumo turns to face the two teams and it is true about what Iruka said. He can see two leaf teams right in front of him and he recognised the spiky blonde haired kid. He has always hated him for being the 'demon kid' but from the rumours coming from the other ninjas that he is a capable ninja under Maki, he is starting to respect the young ninja.

"So, now what?" Naruto and Sakura said together.

"Well," Iruka begins to answer but is cut off by Izumo, "You guys passed the test two days earlier so you will have to wait for the next two days in the tower until the exams are over."

"WHAT ABOUT FOOD???" A shocked Chouji asked though it is more like yelling.

"Calm down Chouji!" Shikamaru said, sighing when his friend calmed down. He would have said troublesome but he didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings.

"Don't worry, Chouji," Iruka assured the Akimichi boy, "There is food in the tower and you can eat as much as you want there."

"ALRIGHT!!!" Chouji cheers happily and takes out a very big pack of potato chips and starts eating it quickly, causing every one to watch in disgust.

"Other ninjas will be there too, including your sensei's. They should be glad to see you." Iruka added.

"Alright, follow us." Izumo said as he and Iruka leads the way into the tower.

The six Gennins of the leaf followed the two superior ninjas, with Naruto still carrying Sasuke. This of course, did not go unnoticed by the two Chuunins. They already know what happened. From the report that Anko gave, Orochimaru has his eyes on the young Uchiha and has given Sasuke the curse seal, the same one that is on Anko's neck and they are surprised that the Uchiha is still alive since the chance of surviving is low.

The Gennins looked at their new surroundings in wonder. The tower is actually massive when it actually looked so small from the outside. It has a lot of floors and Iruka has told them that the Hokage is here too, on the top floor. However, there is one thing that bothered both Sakura and Naruto.

They wondered what the heck ANBU's are here for. Of course, they have seen ANBU patrolling around the Hokage's tower before but not as many as this. As a matter of fact, it seems that the number of ANBU is much more than the number of the ninjas here. Naruto is also looking for his pink haired Jounin teacher, wanting to tell him to help Sasuke with whatever is causing him to be still unconscious.

As for Sakura, she has been trying to remember where she has seen Izumo before. Sure, she recognised him guarding the gates when they come back from boring missions but he just seems familiar somewhere else too. She knew she have seen a younger version of Izumo but she just can't place a finger on it. It is also starting to hurt her head and she was about to give up when Izumo suddenly looked happy and raised his right hand up to wave at someone.

"Hei, sensei!" Izumo said happily, "It has been a long time since I have seen sensei."

Everyone put their attention at the former teacher of Izumo. Since Izumo is a Chuunin, so that man must have been his former sensei. The one's most surprised that the man they are looking at is Izumo's sensei is Naruto and Sakura. They did not know that he would be the sensei of this Chuunin right over here.

"Oh, hei Izumo." The man said and then looks at the team of Gennins behind his former student.

"Oh, Naruto, Sakura, I see that you have passed the test." The Jounin said, smiling.

"Izumo was once your student??" A shocked Sakura asks.

"Yeah," The man replies, "Sakura, I thought you know that I had a team five years ago."

"You never told me that it was him! Uncle Maki!" Sakura said.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki is shaking his head, trying to clear away the headache and trying to ignore all the questions that his two personal students are asking him right now. He didn't even know why they are so curious to know about his teachings with Izumo. It's not like they know him personally and if they are jealous, it is not like as if he is still teaching Izumo. Izumo is already a Chuunin and a strong Chuunin so he does not need to teach him anymore.

"Will you two please be quiet?" A frustrated Maki said angrily and that certainly shut his two students up.

"Why are you even asking me all this?" He asked, looking at his niece and then at his blonde student.

Naruto shrugged, "I guess we were just curious and all." Naruto says sheepishly.

"Really?" Maki said in a bored tone.

"I guess?" Naruto added.

"We just wanted to know how your time was when you first became a Jounin instructor." Sakura said, hoping that her uncle would buy that excuse.

"Oh," Maki begin to think and Sakura sighed in relief that her uncle actually fell for that, "Well, I was nervous when I first became a Jounin instructor. I mean, after my brother's death," Maki made sure to say that carefully so that Sakura didn't seem hurt. She was fine and he continued, "I have been doing dangerous missions to help support his family. However, on one A-rank mission, I was wounded badly and could not do B-rank missions and above for a few months."

Sakura remembered that incident. Her uncle was fighting with some foreign ninjas when a medic ninja used a skill that damaged his inner organs. If it were not for his team mates, he would have been killed on that day. He said that he was out of chakra and could not create any clones to confuse them and he lost.

"So," Maki continues, "The Hokage actually suggested I rest up but I argued that I need the money to feed the family so the Hokage did what he could. It was the time when new Gennins have passed the academy and I have been assigned on a team. I was not happy at first, of course but it was the only way to get money. For the first few weeks, I treated them badly, insulting them every chance I had and saying that they don't deserve to be ninjas. Of course, they challenge me back and ask when I will acknowledge them as a Leaf ninja and I told them I will do that when they can prove it to me."

Maki paused for a while, thinking back.

"I finally acknowledged them on a simple D-rank mission. We were assigned to walk to a farm and help clean the farm but we were attacked by bandits. I was still injured and could not use chakra very well. And since I have been known among the bandits as a killer, they all targeted me but my team protected me. They had their first blood there and then, I finally acknowledged them."

Maki took a deep breath, "I thought they would hate me after all this time but they just hugged me, happy that I was their sensei. They said I made them strong by pushing them."

Maki finished his tale and his two students heard everything in awe. So that was his tale of his first time being a Jounin instructor. Naruto is glad that Maki made him strong without being harsh on him. After all, he has always been treated like that by the other villagers so he did not want his own sensei to treat him like them.

"So, Maki-sensei," Naruto broke the silence, "How is Sasuke?"

Maki sighed when he heard that name. He turns to look at Naruto and gave a simple smile, "He's okay, Naruto." Maki said, "He is being treated by the medical ninjas right now. Care to tell me what happened?"

Naruto hesitated at first but then he gave in, "We were attacked by a Grass ninja. We thought we beat him but he was too strong for us. He bit Sasuke on the neck and then left us there. And the strange thing is, alive."

Maki has a troubled look on his face. Naruto and Sakura can tell that he is hiding something, as if he knew that Sasuke would be attacked. And Maki is not one that can be troubled that easily which can only mean one thing. That Grass ninja that Naruto fought must have been powerful. Naruto is beginning to tremble at the thought that he actually fought a ninja that could have killed him. He could see that the Grass ninja was no ordinary Gennin and to make it worse, it was like the Grass ninja was toying with them.

Maki sighs, "Look, it's getting late. You guys should go to sleep."

"Yeah," Sakura agrees and starts to get up, "Come on, Naruto-kun."

Naruto did not argue. He liked the idea that he would be sharing a room with the pink haired beauty. Actually there were plenty of rooms for them but it was Sakura that actually insisted on the idea that they share the room and of course, they did not tell anyone, especially Maki. Well, they are not going to do anything, but Maki would probably get the wrong idea.

Sakura grabs Naruto's wrist and starts to make their way to their room fast. However, they could hear Maki calling to them, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Naruto and Sakura froze. They started sweating when they heard that but just decided to run, not hearing Maki laughing to himself. When they reached their room, they were breathless from the run, despite having good stamina since they are ninjas.

"Well," Naruto finally said after catching his breath, "We should really get some sleep."

"Yeah." Sakura agrees.

The two of them look at the bed and blushed madly. Sure they have agreed to sleep in the same room but of all the things they forgot to discuss, are about sleeping arrangements. Of course, Sakura is being disturbed by her inner telling her to just go ahead and cuddle next to Naruto but she is not going to be tempted to do such a thing.

"I'll take the couch." Naruto said as he makes his way to the couch which looks really uncomfortable.

Sakura lies down on the bed but she could see that Naruto is already fidgeting on the couch. She feels really bad but asking Naruto to sleep with her is wrong. However, after a full minute of arguing with her inner self, she finally gave in and sighed.

"Naruto," She said, "Why don't you come and sleep here?"

Naruto immediately blushed when he heard Sakura offering to him to sleep with her. He began sweating, "Sa-Sakura-chan… It…It's okay… I can…"

Sakura cut him off, "I won't get any proper rest if you keep fidgeting on that damned couch."

"But…" Naruto begins to protest.

"No buts!" Sakura is getting angry now, "Just get over here!"

Naruto obediently obeyed, not knowing why Sakura is insisting so much that he should share the same bed with her. Heck, he don't mind but he is wondering why Sakura is like that. Sakura moves over so that Naruto can join her, which he reluctantly does. When Naruto is finally on the bed, Sakura pulls the cover for them and the two start to sleep.

"Good night, Sakura-chan." Naruto says as he closes his eyes.

"Night, Naruto-kun." Sakura says softly before falling asleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the forest of death, a lone ninja is jumping from tree branch to tree branch, trying to hurry before people realise that she was gone for too long. It is already night time and she didn't even know why she had to ask him to meet her here, so far from where she is staying. When she finally reached her destination, she finds that he is already waiting for here there.

"You're late." The man says in a rough voice.

"Apologies," The woman said, bowing, "But I had to shake them off of me first. We wouldn't want people suspecting our mission."

"Well," The man turns to face his comrade, "That is true. So tell me, is there anything you have learned about him?"

She nodded and hands him a piece of paper. While he reads, she explains, "I have found out that he is a Fire element and is very good in the shadow clones technique, hence his nickname. He seems to have a large amount of chakra, though I am not very sure. He has not shown me his special ability that we have heard. Perhaps it was just a rumour."

The man slips the paper into a vest pocket, "Perhaps, perhaps not. But tell me," The man looks at the woman in the eyes, "Why are you suddenly so determined on your mission? Well, not that I'm complaining but have you not been having troubles for hurting your 'best friend?'"

Himura flinched at the word 'best friend,' "I have my reasons, Baki. Is that all you need from me?"

Baki nodded and disappears. Himura stood there for a few seconds and then starts to make her way back to the tower. With all the information she has given about 'The Replicator' abilities and the abilities of the 'Copy Ninja' her comrade gathered, Konoha won't stand much of a chance when they start their mission. This is just going to be too easy.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki is sitting on a balcony, looking out at the massive forest. By tomorrow, it will be the fourth day and they only have to wait one more day before they either have the preliminary round or the third part of the exam, which will occur in a month. But he could that if a team appears tomorrow, they will have the preliminary round since right now, three teams are already at the tower which adds up to nine ninjas to take up the third part of the exam. And nine is the maximum amount for the third part of the Chuunin exams.

He cursed softly when he starts to think about his brother again. Yes, he loved his brother but he did not want to think of him everyday. It's all because of that damned picture in his room. Then again, he can't really blame the picture. His forehead protector is proof that he still thinks of his brother. He could just remove it but that is not his room so he has no rights in doing so. Maki sighed softly and looks up at the sky, watching the starts twinkle with the bright moon on the centre. It makes the night even more beautiful. He stopped watching the stars when he realised he is no longer alone. He smiled.

"Sakura," He said without looking back, "What are you doing up so late?"

"I woke up," Sakura said as she walks to her uncle, "And couldn't sleep back. So I decided to walk around when I felt your chakra."

Maki smirks, "You didn't do anything with Naruto, did you?"

Sakura blushed deeply, "Uncle Maki!"

"I'm just kidding," Maki laughed, "Here, have a sit."

Sakura walked to where her uncle is sitting and took a sit next to him. They are now sitting on a bench on the balcony overlooking the forest where she was staying for three days. She never would have thought that the forest would look so beautiful despite it's ugliness on the inside. Maki is so much relaxed just looking at the forest but he knew that his niece must have come here for a reason. He turns to face her.

"Sakura," He said, "What do you want to talk about?"

Sakura smiles, "You have always known everything about me, huh? Uncle Maki."

Maki nodded and Sakura continues, "You remember the last conversation we had before we left the house?"

Maki begins to think and then he remembers, "About your father?"

Sakura nodded.

Maki looks into her green emerald eyes, the same eye colour of his brother, "So what do you want to know?"

"I…" Sakura calms herself. She didn't know why she would be so nervous talking about her father, "I want to know his personality and how he met mum."

"His personality eh?" Maki questions and starts to think of his brother.

"Well," He starts and Sakura listens intently, "I have already told you about his skills with the genjutsu. I guess you kind of inherited that. So, his personality? I would say that he is a good man and like me, loves Konoha and his precious people. His personality is more like Naruto actually. He is joyful and rarely sad, stubborn too. And unlike most siblings who don't get along well, I and he are like glue. We are rarely seen not together and the only time we would be separated is when we are on missions."

Maki sighs and continues, "I would say he is the best brother anybody would have asked for. I would say it is because of his encouragements I became a Chuunin. Now, you want how he met your mum?"

Sakura nodded.

Maki smiles and begins to think again, "Do you remember the picture you saw in my room? The one about the one the day he became a Jounin?"

"Yeah." Sakura answers and nodding her head.

"It was that day he saw your mum." Maki smiles at that thought, "We just had that picture taken and we were on our way to lunch when he saw her. I must admit, your mum was a beautiful woman at that time. Well, she still is actually but anyway, your father immediately fell in love with her. She also returned the love and I would say they are the perfect match."

Maki then scratches the back of his head sheepishly, "At first, I did not really approve it since your mother seems to be drawing your father farther and farther away from me. It was like as if she was stealing the relationship I had with my brother and I argued with your father about your mother. But I couldn't change his mind and when they finally got married, I also had a change of heart regarding your mother."

Sakura looks at her uncle, "How long were they married?"

Maki's expression is now sorrowful, "I am sad to say that they were only together for about a year and a half. They loved each other so much but spent so little time together."

The two were silent now. Sakura is silent because she finally knows how much her mum have suffered. She also can't imagine if Naruto died. What would she do? As for Maki, he feels guilty that his brother died. If he died in his place, Sakura would still have a loving father and his brother would enjoy a loving family.

"Sometimes," Maki said, catching the attention of Sakura, "I always thought that it would have been best that I died instead of your father."

The statement shocked Sakura. Maki looks at her again, pushing away a strand of pink hair in front of her face.

"I mean," Maki continues, "It would have been better that I died. My brother would still have the person he loved by his side and you will have your father. Sure, I am your uncle and you love me but a girl like you deserves the love of her father."

Sakura begins to cry when she heard her uncle say that. Maki also has a tear rolling down his cheek as he continues, "I love you and your father so much that I would gladly take my life away so that he can take my place."

"Uncle Maki…" Sakura calls her uncle between sobs.

"Please," She begs, tugging the sleeve of Maki, "Don't talk like that. Just because you're my uncle doesn't mean I love you less. You have always been like a father to me, even if I still call you uncle. Don't say all this kind of things. When you were badly injured those years ago, I was devastated and thought that you will never come back!"

Maki hugs his niece and tries to calm her down. When she finally calmed down, Maki smiles, "Perhaps there is something I can give you that will still remind you of your father. I have been wearing it for too long and perhaps, it is time you have it."

Sakura is confused when she sees her uncle untying his forehead protector, allowing his hair to fall. He looked even more handsome but that is beside the point. Maki then proceeds to untie her forehead protector and then, he ties his forehead protector on her head.

"This headband," Maki begins to explain, "is the last thing I have of my brother, your father. I wear it everyday and I guess, it is time you have it."

Sakura is stunned to say anything. She starts to tear up and hug her uncle, repeating the word 'Thank you' over and over again. Maki simply smiles and after a full minute, they release the hug.

"Now Sakura," Maki said, "Don't lose this. It is the last connection you have of your father. And perhaps, when you are old enough and have mastered your genjutsu, I can give you a scroll that belongs to your father on his most powerful genjutsu ever."

Maki then turned serious, "However, when I do teach you this genjutsu Sakura, you must remember that this genjutsu is a forbidden technique and must be used only when you have to. Do you understand?"

Sakura nods her head. Maki smiles, "It is getting late. Why don't you go back to bed?"

Sakura again nodded her head and then gets up from the bench and makes her way to her room. She sees her blonde boyfriend sleeping peacefully and carefully slips into bed, sleeping next to him. When she fell asleep, she did not realise that she enjoyed the warmth from Naruto so much that she kept cuddling more to Naruto until her head is now using Naruto's chest as a pillow.


	19. Chuunin exam: The Preliminaries

**I apologise for this short chapter but it is pretty hard to add stuff in this since it is about the day they prepare for the preliminaries. Anywayx, the next chapter will be about the fights in the preliminares and note! The fights that are canon, I will just tell who won but those that are mine, I will explain in detail. **

**Well, nothing much else to say so please review.**

CHAPTER 19: CHUUNIN EXAM: THE PRELIMINARIES

It is finally the fifth day and the end of the second part of the exams. The ANBU have found many teams that failed some because one of their team mates is killed or they could not get the other scroll that is required of them. This was why it is called the forest of death as the ANBU collects the remaining Gennin teams in the forest and sending them back to Konoha.

Sasuke has also gained back consciousness on the fourth day. Everyone of the rookie nine is relieved that he is okay. Yes, team ten of the lead has also passed the exam in the early hours of the fourth day and heard the story about Sasuke. Sasuke was confused where he was but calmed down when he saw Naruto and was explained about what happened after he got bitten by the Grass ninja.

The sun had risen and Naruto opened his eyes when the sun hit his eyes. He groaned softly and tries to get off of his bed only to find a weight on his chest. He looks down and he can see Sakura, just like the previous night, is using his chest as a pillow. He blushed so much he looked like a tomato. Naruto can remember the first time he woke up with Sakura on his chest. He tried to get up only causing Sakura to wake up. He thought she was going to yell at him but she simply said good morning and then got off the bed.

But today, Naruto decided to just lie down and wait until she wakes up. He looks up at the ceiling, thinking about what happened to Sasuke. He has heard that he is okay now but he has not seen him for two days and is starting to get worried. He felt Sakura stirring in her sleep and then he can feel the weight on his chest gone.

Sakura is looking at Naruto with sleepy eyes, "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Naruto answers and quickly looks at the clock in the room, "Seven thirty in the morning. Why?"

Sakura smiles and then plops down back to Naruto's chest, bringing back the blush, "Good," Sakura said softly, "Uncle Maki said he needs us at the dining area by eight fifteen so I still have ten minutes before I get ready."

"But Sakura-chan," Naruto whines, "I have to go to the bathroom."

Sakura sighs, "Fine, go ahead."

Sakura raises her head for a while and Naruto quickly heads for the bathroom. Sakura plops down on Naruto's pillow, breathing in the scent. She really enjoyed sleeping on Naruto's chest and now she is going to have to get used to sleeping on a pillow again after today. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and since Naruto is busy doing his 'business,' Sakura is going to have to answer the door.

The knocking on the door got louder and Sakura was getting annoyed, "I'm coming already!" She says rather loudly.

When she opened the door, she is quite surprised at who is standing before her, "Uncle Maki?"

Maki smiles, "Good morning, Sakura!" Maki then looks around the room, "Where's Naruto?"

"He's in the toilet," Sakura answers, "So what are you doing here, uncle Maki? I thought you said we have to be at the dining area at eight fifteen and we still have plenty of time."

"I know," Maki said as he enters the room, "I just wanted to check up on you. But now that I'm here, I may as well wait for you guys."

Maki took a seat on the couch and looks around his niece's room. The room is almost the same as his. The only difference is that there are different pictures in this room but one picture is still there and it is the picture of the fight with the fourth Hokage and the kyuubi. He sighs as he looks at the picture. His touches his new forehead protector tied on his forehead. It is no longer his brother's one but it is given to a person that deserves to have it more.

"So, uncle Maki," Sakura stared as she took a seat next to her uncle, "What happens now?"

Maki looks confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, five days have passed so the second part of the exam has ended. What is going to happen now?"

"Oh, right," Maki clears his throat, "Well, we have to get to the fighting arena in the tower at nine. The Hokage will tell us what will happen from there."

"So what is the point of going to the dining area then?" Sakura asks.

Maki sweatdropped, "Well, does breakfast make sense?"

Sakura laughs sheepishly when the room of the bathroom opens and Naruto comes out of the toilet, a towel wrapped around his waist. Sakura is surprised that he actually took such a quick shower and blushed when she saw that Naruto's body is not so bad. She was actually drooling a little and Maki had to nudge her softly to snap her out of it.

As for Maki, he is impressed that Naruto is starting to look like his father. Since his hair is now wet and no longer spiky, he really looks like the fourth Hokage. He remember the last time he saw the fouth Hokage was when he gave his dying wish, that Naruto be respected by the villagers and not viewed as a monster.

"Maki-sensei?" Naruto said, shocked that his pink haired teacher in his room.

"Hei, Naruto!" Maki said, waving.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asks.

"I am waiting for you and Sakura to get ready and then we can eat breakfast together. After all, it has been some time since we ate together at the Ramen stand."

"Oh," Naruto then turns to Sakura, "Sakura-chan, you can use the bathroom now."

Sakura nodded and grabs a dry towel and closes the door of the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

"Well, I'll meet you two at the dining area." Maki said, "And Naruto?"

"Yeah?" Naruto is now wearing a black shirt and dark blue cargo pants. Teams that passed the exam earlier than the time needed have ANBU's to collect for them their shirt at their house. As for the ninjas from the other villages, they are given free shirt so they are lucky.

"If you even dare to ogle Sakura when she comes out of the bathroom, I will personally be the one to beat you." Maki warned.

That really frightened Naruto. Never has he seen his pink haired teacher so serious and since he is the father-figure, he would act like this. Naruto shakily nods his head and Maki leaves the room, closing the door behind him and leaving the frightened Naruto alone.

Naruto sits on the couch to wait for Sakura which took about ten minutes before the door of the bathroom finally opens, revealing Sakura with a towel wrapped around her body with her wet hair clinging to her back. Naruto nearly had a huge nosebleed when Naruto saw her and quickly turned away to hide the blush and to quickly rub away a small tint of blood from his nose. He did not want to know what Maki's wrath would be and has no intentions of finding out.

Sakura did not really notice Naruto trying to avoid looking at her as she opens the wardrobe and starts to choose her clothes. And to Naruto, she is painfully doing it too slow and his face is really starting to get hot from all the blood rising to his cheeks when she is finally done.

Naruto sighs in relief and turns to face her. She is wearing a pink tank top that has the symbol of Konoha on it and her usual black tights. It is a strange combination for her outfit but Naruto did not complain. To him, it makes her look cute. Sakura ties her long pink hair into a ponytail since it was distracting her.

"Come on," Naruto says as he opens the door, "We have to go meet your uncle at the dining area."

Sakura nodded and follows her blonde haired boyfriend. As they are walking in the silent hallway, Sakura suddenly lunges for Naruto's arm and locks it with hers, making them look like a couple and to complete it, Sakura rested her head on his shoulder. Naruto blushed lightly but he felt that this was right. Sakura is enjoying this too but they had to stop what they were doing when then entered the dining area.

The room is a very large room with about fifteen large tables that are capable to accommodate about eight people. The room is pretty empty and they can only see one person sitting on a chair, eating his breakfast. On the opposite of the man are one bowl and also a plate of food.

The man looks at them and gestures to them to come and join him. Naruto and Sakura of course agreed and walked to the man, Naruto sitting on the chair with the bowl and Sakura next to him, receiving the plate of food.

"It took you two long enough." Maki said as he took a bite of a sausage.

Naruto is drooling at his breakfast which was a bowl of Ramen. Sakura looks down at her food. She can tell it is delicious. She is served with a fried egg and three sausages. 'It must be the same thing that uncle Maki ate. He always did have the same taste as me.' Sakura thought.

As for Naruto, he is eating fast and in just a minute, he already eaten his breakfast and drank down the broth. He wipes his mouth clean with a tissue next to his bowl and realise that Maki and Sakura are both staring at him. Maki and Sakura had completely forgotten that Naruto can eat fast when it comes to Ramen and it shocked them to see him like this.

After a few minutes, Sakura is finally done eating and the three starts looking at each other, not knowing what to say or do. Then, the two young Gennins glare at Maki, demanding an explanation.

"Well," Maki suddenly said, "I already said that we are to report to the fighting arena at nine in the morning."

"Yeah, and it is already eight forty five." Sakura says, pointing at the large clock in the dining room.

"Don't worry," Maki assures, "We have plenty of time before we go down and meet with the old man and the other ninjas."

Maki realises that both Naruto and Sakura are suddenly frightened and looking at something behind him. Maki scratches his head in confusion and Sakura is now pointing at something behind him. Since that is the direction of the large clock, Maki thought she was pointing at the clock.

"Sakura," Maki said in a calm voice, "I already said we still have about fifteen minutes before we meet with the old Hokage, so you…"

"What did you say, Maki?" Someone said behind and that instantly stopped Maki from talking. He would always recognise that voice. He turns to face the voice and true to his suspicion, it is the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama?" Maki said, sweating now.

The Hokage smiled menacingly, "I would be glad to yell at you in front of your own students right now Maki," The Hokage said, taking a quick glance at the two Gennins snickering, "But I actually came here to tell you about the current situation."

Maki immediately turned serious as the Hokage walks away from the table. Maki gets up from his seat and turns to his two students, "Wait here, I have something to discuss with Hokage-sama."

"I thought you called him old man?" Naruto teased but Maki did not say anything as he makes his way to the Hokage.

"Wow," Sakura said when Maki is out of the hearing range, "It must be something really important to not even retort about what you said."

"Man, I have to hear what they are talking about." Naruto said, watching the two adults talking.

"You can't do that!" Sakura scolded.

"Why not?"

"Because…" Sakura did not know what to say, "Because what they are talking about is classified information and…"

"Which actually makes it even more tempting to listen." Naruto interrupted Sakura.

Before Naruto could even apply chakra to his ears to hear even better, Maki is already back, his hands in his pockets, "Well, let's go to the fight arena."

"I thought you said we had plenty of time?" Naruto asks.

"Not anymore, so let's go." Maki said and starts to make his way out of the dining area with both Naruto and Sakura following.

Maki is still lost in thought as he leads his students to the fight arena. His official team is already there and Naruto and Sakura are the only ones that are still not there. He is going to be receiving a lot of angry glares from Jounin instructors when he reaches there.

"It has been reported by our ANBU spies that there might be several spies in Konoha that are trying to find the abilities of our top ninjas." The Hokage had told Maki in the dining room just now.

"And?"

"Our ANBU spies have not found out who the spies are but they know that they are finding out about the abilities two our top ninjas." The Hokage said.

The Hokage then looks straight into the eye of Maki, "You and Hatake Kakashi are their targets and from now on, I would advise you to be careful to whom you talk to." The Hokage then turns around, "Now get your butt to the fight arena."

Maki sighed at that thought. Now he has to actually be careful with whom he talks to, especially with ninjas from foreign villages. He now can't even talk with Himura now since she is from the Sand village. Even though she comes from an ally village, she could be a spy from the Sound village and finding out about his abilities is something that he cannot allow. And that Orochimaru already knows how his use his shadow clones with the kunai.

As for Naruto, he is still curious about what Maki and the old man had talked about. If it was some A-rank mission, maybe he can join Maki since he has successfully done well in a B-rank mission. 'Damn it, I just have to know what they talked about.' Naruto thought.

It took them about two minutes to get to the fight arena and Naruto and Sakura looked around in awe. The place is huge and they can see a large statue of a hand doing a seal. They also can see a large black screen to it's left. The other Gennins are waiting for them, all lined up. As Maki suspected, all the Jounin instructors glared angrily at him. Maki looks down to the ground, embarrassed. He tells Naruto and Sakura to stand behind their team members while he makes his way to where all the Jounin instructors are standing. He stands between a Grass Jounin and Gai.

"Where were you, Maki?" Gai asks softly.

"The Hokage had to tell me something." Maki responds.

Gai nodded and then chuckled, "I can't believe that your team actually made it this far."

"I have trained them well." Maki said, looking at his team.

"However," Gai said, pointing at his team, "With my team here, your team won't stand much of a chance. You should just give up the challenge you made with me, Maki. My team has the best Taijutsu user and also a very youthful student. With the power of youth, we can never be stopped."

Maki turns to Gai, "You were talking to me?"

Gai slaps is forehead in shock, "Why do you have to act all cool like Kakashi?"

"I was looking at my team. I didn't know you were talking to me." Maki said, hoping his excuse was good enough.

Gai has fire in his eyes and Maki can tell that he is going to be saying something about youth which he has no intentions in listening. Maki looks at all the Gennins present. He can see that all three rookie teams of the leaf passed and other than Gai's team, another leaf team has passed. Also, a Sound team and the Sand team under Himura passed. The Hokage is standing in the centre of the Jounin instructors.

Maki remembered about Himura and starts to look for her. He finds her at the very end to his right, standing straight at attention. She has been more serious than ever from what Maki could remember. It is like now she no longer acts like the old Himura but a ninja with no emotions at all. Sure, that is one of the rules in being a ninja but most ninjas can never do that successfully unless you have been trained so from birth. So what exactly is Himura hiding?

"Okay then," The Hokage started, taking off his pipe from his mouth, "Congratulations to all of you who have passed the second test of the Chuunin exams. Before we can start with the third part of the exam, I am afraid that there are too many of you to participate in the exams."

"So, what do we do?" The sand girl, Temari asked.

The Hokage smiled, "The remaining ninjas here will all participate in a fight, picked at random, and whoever wins the fight will qualify to participate in the third part of the Chuunin's exam."

The Hokage stops for a while then continues, "The fight will be one on one and will…"

Before the Hokage could continue, a puff of smoke appears in front of the Hokage and a man suddenly appears, on one of his knees kneeling, "Apologies, Hokage-sama," The man said, "But since that I will be the referee for the preliminaries, I would like to be the one to explain the rules for it."

The Hokage nodded, "Very well, Hayate."

The man turns around to face the crowd of Gennins. They can see that the man has shoulder length hair and his eyes seem to show that he is quite sick. The man looks around.

"As the Hokage already said, there are just too many of you and only nine is allowed to participate in the third exam so the preliminaries will be to shorten the amount. I will tell you all now that in the one on one fight, the match will end either when one of you dies or when I see fit that the match is over." Hayate explains, coughing during his entire explanation, "So, if any of you here are still tired from the exams and can't continue, you can stop now. This will not affect your team."

Silence. No one said anything and Naruto expected it. They have all worked hard and risked their lives in the second test so why anyone would quit the exams now? Only a guy without a brain would do that. Naruto looks around until he sees someone raising his hand, much to his shock.

"I'm sorry," The guy who raised his hand said, "But my body is too tired. I can't go on."

Hayate, the referee starts to look for something on his clipboard and stops when he finally finds it, "You are Yakushi Kabuto, right?" Hayate asked, looking up, "You can leave now."

'Kabuto?' Naruto thought, 'Isn't he the guy who got attacked by the Sound ninjas at the examination room in the first test?'

Kabuto starts to make for the exit, leaving his two team mates behind. Maki looked at the Gennin leave, suspicious about this. He also realised that one of the Sound Jounins, a man with a pale face seems to be smiling at Kabuto's back. Now Maki is starting to get even more suspicious.

"Are there anymore that wants to stop here?" Hayate asked, coughing once more.

After he waited for a few seconds for a response but got none, he nodded, "Alright, here is how we will pick you out. Do you see that screen over there?" Hayake asked and pointed to the black empty screen to his upper right.

He got several nods and he continues, "This screen will randomly pick out names for each battle and when the names of the two ninjas are showed, they are to come here and fight while the rest," He points, "You all can watch and wait your turn on the upper level over there."

When he completed his sentence, the screen suddenly comes to life and starts choosing the names in random. After several seconds, it stopped to reveal two names.

UCHIHA SASUKE VS AKADO YOROI

Sasuke smirks when he sees his name and is excited to be the first one to fight. He has been injured in the second test but he is going to show everyone here why an Uchiha is not an opponent to be messed with.

"You better win if you want to fight me." Naruto said to Sasuke.

Sasuke turns and faces his team mate, "Oh, you should worry about what you are doing to do when I face you in the third exam."

Naruto smiles and pats Sasuke's shoulder once and then follow the rest of his students to the upper level. The Jounin instructors follow, going up the upper level to be with their teams. However, Maki heads to Sasuke first.

"Sasuke," Maki said, "Whatever you do, do not use anything that might use chakra, including your Sharingan."

"My Sharingan?" Sasuke questions.

Maki nodded, "Kakashi said it might activate the curse seal. After the match, Kakashi will meet up with you at the back to try and seal up the curse seal."

"Thanks for the advice, sensei." Sasuke said, smiling.

Maki simply smiled and walks up to his team, not bothering to use the stairs as he jumps up. He lands behind Naruto and Ino. Naruto is watching intently, wanting to see what Sasuke will do in this fight. And he was really serious that he wanted to fight Sasuke, to see who the better one in the team is.

Ino is however worried ever since he received the curse seal. She is actually trembling a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turns and realises it is her sensei, "Maki-sensei?"

"Don't worry," Maki assures her, "Sasuke is capable of doing this. If he loses this, he isn't a student of mine or Kakashi."

Ino smiles and turns back to look at Sasuke. Sasuke is concentrating to prepare for the fight, trying to see what he can measure by the looks. The man looks strong with those stupid black glasses that it actually reminds him of Shino.

Maki narrows his eyes to keep an eye on the curse seal on his neck. A couple of Jounins had protested on the idea to allow Sasuke to continue and when he spoke up, he was pushed back until Kakashi arrived and supported Maki, saying that Sasuke is a strong kid.

Maki was also worried at that time. He thought that with the curse seal, Sasuke would return to his life of being an avenger but he was wrong when he visited Sasuke.

The first thing that Sasuke said when he woke up was, "Is Naruto alright, Maki-sensei?"

Maki could not feel anymore proud of Sasuke. Not only is he starting to care about his team mates, but also his love to the village since he is starting to respect his superiors and that is shown by him calling him 'sensei.'

"Begin!!" Hayate calls out and Sasuke charges at the man.


	20. Chuunin exam: The Preliminaries II

**Hei, here is the update. Hope you will enjoy this chapter. Damn it, why do so many people like to favourite this story but do not leave a review? It makes me sad, but anyways...**

**Remember, I said that matches that are cannon, I will not write it out, only the winners but those that are different, I will write in detail. **

**So please leave a review. I will update the next chapter after i updated my other story, which should be tomorrow.**

CHAPTER 20: THE CHUUNIN EXAM: THE PRELIMINARIES II

All the Gennins watch as Sasuke charges at Yoroi, the team mate of Kabuto who has left the preliminaries. None of the Gennins even know what the abilities of Yoroi are and the leaf Gennins has never seen him before in Konoha. Yoroi quickly gets into a defensive stance to prepare for whatever the young Uchiha has in store for him. He knows of the curse seal and he has the advantage since Sasuke can't do anything but fight him in hand to hand combat.

Sasuke has his right fist aimed at Yoroi's left cheek but Yoroi blocks it with his left hand. Sasuke quickly continues the attack by trying to knee Yoroi's gut but Yoroi blocked it with his own knee. The two are now stuck there, no longer able to move and the two broke it off by jumping backwards. But Yoroi was more skilled, throwing four shurikens while he was jumping back.

Sasuke saw the shurikens coming. When he lands on his feet, he jumps up into the air and returns the taking out two kunai's and prepares the throw but he could not find Yoroi anywhere. He looks left and right but he could not find him anywhere.

"Sasuke!" Naruto calls out, "Behind you!"

Sasuke turns around only to find Yaroi grab him with his large arms. However, Sasuke suddenly turned into a puff of smoke and Yaroi is now actually grabbing a log.

"Replacement technique?" Yaroi said, surprised.

"It is time to return the favour!" A voice said from behind.

Yaroi turns around but can only see Sasuke with his left leg raised high, charged for the attack. He crosses his arms right above his head on time, feeling Sasuke's leg crashing onto his arms. It hurt his arms but the pain will save him from defeat as he crashes to the ground. If the kick had hit him square on the head, he would probably land on the fighting ground unconscious. Still, the pain of landing on his back on the hard cement ground hurt his back but at least he can still have an attempt to win this match.

Sasuke lands on his feet as he watches his opponent struggle to get to his feet. Sasuke feels proud of himself that he can maybe win this match without using Ninjutsu, which is his speciality. Sure, the Uchiha's are good in Taijutsu but would only be better if they had the Sharingan.

"You should just quit before you really hurt yourself." Sasuke warned, turning into an attacking stance.

"You are underestimating me." Yaroi said, flexing his shoulders.

Sasuke smirked and charges at Yaroi once again but this time, he has a kunai in hand. Yaroi tosses a shuriken but Sasuke easily blocks it with his kunai. However, that was the distraction that Yaroi needed. Yaroi surprised Sasuke by suddenly charging and jumping forward. Sasuke would have seen that coming if he had the Sharingan activated but since he didn't, he did not see that.

Yaroi is still in the air but is now behind Sasuke and kicks Sasuke at the back of his head. Sasuke drops his kunai and lands face first on the ground. Sasuke quickly turns around and sees Yaroi in the air again, his two feet ready to smash his face. Sasuke rolls to his left, hearing the sound of Yaroi's feet slamming on the ground. But Yaroi was fast.

The next thing Sasuke know is Yaroi grabbing Sasuke's forehead so hard that Sasuke could feel his head being crushed. He tries to force the man to let go of the grip but surprisingly, with every struggle, Sasuke seems to be getting weaker. Sasuke soon stopped struggling but he is still getting weaker. Yaroi is now laughing and Sasuke looks at Yaroi weakly and the sight surprised him.

He can see blue chakra flowing into his body. And it is coming from the hand that is gripping his forehead and that is when the realisation hit him.

"You…" Sasuke said weakly.

"Yes," Yaroi said, "I can suck chakra from your body. Don't worry; I will suck it all out until you pass out from chakra exhaustion. That will declare me as the winner."

Meanwhile, Naruto and the rest of the Gennin have heard what Yaroi said.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, "You can't lose here, you idiot! If not, how am I going to fight you?"

Sasuke heard that and is suddenly filled with determination. 'He's right! The fight with Naruto is the only way to find out who is the better ninja.' Sasuke thought.

But Sasuke is still weak and is getting weaker. How do you beat someone when you are already getting weaker? Sasuke looks around him and he can see a kunai on the ground next to him. It must have been the one that he dropped earlier. 'Why was I so stupid?' Sasuke thought.

He took the kunai and using what energy he has left, plunge it deep into Yaroi's arm, forcing him to let go of his forehead. Yaroi yells in pain and jumps back, looking at the kunai in his arm. Ignoring the pain, he pulls out the bloodied kunai and tosses it to the ground and looks at Sasuke.

Sasuke is panting slightly. He knew that even though he does not need to use chakra, he has to end this fight soon because if he gets caught again, he will pass out by chakra exhaustion. Sasuke starts to think of a way to beat Yaroi until he can no longer get up. He reaches for a kunai in his back pouch when he feels that one kunai is slightly different than the others. In that instant, he remembers how he got it and now, he has the perfect plan.

Flashback

At training ground number seven, the three Gennins are being trained by Maki but the two males are left to train alone while Maki is training Ino personally. Naruto has been given a scroll to learn more Wind techniques while Sasuke a scroll with some Fire techniques and was also told to increase his chakra control by doing the tree walk exercise.

"Why the heck does Maki-sensei have to train Ino alone?" Naruto complains, reading the scroll Maki had given him.

"Stop complaining," Sasuke said as he walks up a tree while reading the scroll, "It's not going to do any better."

"All I'm saying is…" Naruto started to say when Maki suddenly appeared.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked, looking at his two students.

Naruto gets up immediately while Sasuke sits on a tree branch, right above the pink haired Jounin.

"Maki-sensei," Naruto started, "How come every time team seven has group training, you always train with Ino while me and Sasuke have to train alone?"

Maki looks at Naruto, "That is what you guys are complaining about?"

"Yes." Naruto and Sasuke said in unison.

Maki sighs, "Okay, let me ask you two a question first. What is it that you two have, when it comes to training alone, that Ino doesn't have?"

"Determination?" Naruto answers, but Maki shook his head.

"Talent?" Sasuke answered next but Maki shook his head.

"She does not have a personal teacher!" Maki said angrily, "Naruto has me to train in personally while you Sasuke have Kakashi. The two of you are improving so much that Ino is being left behind so I have to take the time of our group training to train her alone."

The two boys now look guilty and Maki is surprised that Sasuke has the same reaction since he is normally the cold one. It seems that hanging around Naruto is starting to rub off on him and then he turns to Naruto.

"Naruto, you already know that I have training with you later on with Sakura. To make it up with you, I will teach you one strong Wind technique."

Naruto brightens up and quickly starts to read the scroll with his Wind technique. Maki then turns to look up at Sasuke at the branch.

"I don't really have much to teach you on fire techniques since that scroll has most of it," Maki said, rubbing his chin, "But I will give you something special. I will tell you how to use it but know this Sasuke, it can only be used once and it must hit the target or else, it will be useless." Maki told Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded and Maki gave Sasuke an item that even shocked Sasuke. Maki then starts telling Sasuke how to use it and Sasuke is brimming with excitement.

End of Flashback

Sasuke takes out the new kunai and those that recognised the kunai, gasped. Even the Hokage who was watching the match recognised the kunai and is surprised that he has it. No one uses that kunai but one ninja in Konoha. He turns to look at Maki who is grinning.

The Hokage of course knew how he creates shadow clones both by using the blood and the other way by releasing the chakra. It is quite easy actually but something that he never knows is how he creates it at first? It may seem easy to observe how he does it but how he creates it is harder than the Hokage thought.

When the Hokage first found out his method by releasing chakra if he missed the target, the Hokage quickly tried it. He first stored enough chakra to a kunai to create a shadow clone. He then tosses it to a target and the Hokage did say release to release the chakra but his kunai did not create a shadow clone. To this day, the Hokage never managed to create a shadow clone using that method.

Maki is the only one who knows how to use this unique way of creating shadow clones. Even if his enemies find out how he uses it, they will never know how to create it. Maki still doesn't know that the Hokage knows how he creates it and he decided to not let him know about it. The Hokage actually hoped that he will tell his niece about it and only let the Haruno family learn. This would create a kind of new bloodline family in Konoha but Maki has told no one.

"Maki-sensei," Ino asked, looking at the grinning Jounin, "Isn't that your kunai?"

Maki nodded, "Yes. I gave it to him in a training session a long time ago."

'Even though I thought Sasuke how to use it, it is not like as if he knows how to create one so I don't really have anything to worry for now.' Maki thought to himself.

Sasuke has finally finished thinking and hopes that his plan works. With his sensei's kunai still in hand, he charges at Yaroi. Yaroi is prepared and Sasuke jumps up into the air with his left leg charged up high for an attack. This scene is familiar and Yaroi decides to dodge it. Sasuke expected that and while still in the air, throws two shurikens at Yaroi.

Yaroi jumps up high in to the air while Sasuke lands on the ground and with Yaroi in the air, he cannot dodge anything. He takes aim and tosses his sensei's kunai at Yaroi and Yaroi was too slow to grab a kunai and block it. The kunai plunges into Yaroi's right thigh, blood spilling on the kunai and instantly, creates an exact copy of Maki.

Everyone who knows of Maki's ability actually expected a clone of Sasuke but it seems they were wrong. Hayate smiled when he saw this and did not call off the match since it was a technique, even though right now, Yaroi will lose since he is fighting a clone of a Jounin and a Gennin at the same time.

Maki's clone takes out a kunai and places it at Yaroi's neck and his other hand gripping Yaroi's neck hard. They land on the ground and Sasuke stands in front of Yaroi, smirking.

"Now do you give up? Or would you like me to end your life here?" Sasuke asked.

"I…" Yaroi hesitated, "I forfeit."

Sasuke smiles. Hayate nodded and raises his right arm, "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed in relief and turns to Hayate whom is examining Yaroi, "What do I do now?"

"You can join your team on the upper levels." Hayate answers without looking up.

Sasuke nodded and is about to go up when Kakashi suddenly appeared next to Sasuke, reading his perverted book.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke but we have to deal with your problem." Kakashi said, bringing Sasuke to the back room.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei taking him, Maki-sensei?" Ino questioned, a worried expression on her face.

"Don't worry, Kakashi is going to take care of the problem on his neck. And I have to go with them." Maki said as he makes his way to where Kakashi went.

Naruto watch his sensei leave and then put his attention at the black screen which is now randomly going through the names to choose for the next fight. Yaroi is already out of the fighting ground and with his other team mate. The screen finally stops and Hayate looks at the screen and nodded.

"Will Aburame Shino and Zaku Abumi please come down for the fight?" Hayate said in an ordering tone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, at the back of the room, Kakashi has already prepared what is needed to try and seal the damned curse seal on Sasuke's neck. The room is dark and the only light is coming seems to be coming from where Sasuke is sitting, his upper body naked. Kakashi looks at his work and nodded, happy that this is what is needed to seal the thing on Sasuke's neck.

"Now before I continue," Kakashi said, "I will inform you beforehand that this will cause you immense pain and you will fall unconscious for a day or so. And this seal will only work with your willpower. If your willpower weakens, the curse seal will activate."

"I understand." Sasuke answered, preparing for the pain to come.

"Alright, we will begin now." Kakashi then begins forming the seals required. He wishes his sensei was still alive. The fourth Hokage was a seal master and should be able to seal that curse seal permanently while Kakashi is not very good at seals.

Sasuke yells in pain as the technique activates, feeling like his neck is being whipped a hundred times. The pain is so great that he feels like he preferred his life to end, not caring that he completed his goal or not. When the technique finally ended, Sasuke could only see Kakashi kneeling in front of him and waving his hand in front of his face. Then, the world turned black.

Kakashi nodded. That was to be expected to those that experienced this sealing method. He was about to pick up Sasuke and send him to the hospital when he felt a familiar presence coming from the dark room.

"You are already late." Kakashi said, "Very unnatural of you."

"Yeah," Maki said, now next to Kakashi, "So how did it go?"

"Everything happened what it should have been." Kakashi replied, pointing at the unconscious Uchiha.

"Well, I will let you handle the Uchiha. I have to get back to my team and…" Before Maki could finish his sentence, the two could hear someone approaching, chuckling.

Maki has felt this chakra before and fear is beginning to envelope within him. Kakashi observed his pink haired friend and if he is afraid of this new comer, he should be too. When the person finally allowed the light to shine on him, Kakashi gasped.

"Orochimaru?!" Kakashi said, shocked.

"You have grown, Kakashi," Orochimaru said, "You can now use sealing techniques. I'm impressed."

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked angrily, not liking that a Sannin will be their opponent.

"I came here for the person behind you." Orochimaru pointed out.

"Why would you want Sasuke?" Maki asked now, although he has the idea.

Orochimaru turned to look at Maki, "I am after what Kakashi already has."

Kakashi's eyes widen when he heard that, "So you want the Sharingan?"

Orochimaru smiled more now, "It will be a further step toward my goal."

"And that goal being?" Maki questions.

Orochimaru chuckled, "The destruction of the leaf village!"

Maki narrows his eyes and quickly creates four shadow clones while Kakashi starts doing seals, creating a ball of lightning in his hands, brightening up the room even more. Maki also starts doing seals, which took about five seconds this time due to fear. Maki's right arm is suddenly enveloped in a red flame, the colours of red and blue filled the room.

"Even if we cannot kill you," Kakashi spat, "We can incapacitate you at least."

Orochimaru listened to what the masked Jounin said and starts looking at Kakashi and then to the five Maki. After that, he burst out laughing, his laughter echoing throughout the room. Maki and Kakashi are now confused until Orochimaru finally stopped laughing, wiping away a tear that rolled down his cheek.

"You actually think the two of you are a match against me?" Orochimaru mocked, "You two are nothing against me. And what you did to Sasuke is useless. He is an avenger and he will seek me out."

Orochimaru starts to walk away and then stopped, "And if you two want to try and kill me, go ahead and try."

The moment he said that, the two Jounins were left speechless. They may be the two strongest Jounins in the village, but were they really even a match against a Sannin? Of course not. Orochimaru had left them alive and Kakashi just picked up Sasuke and disappeared. Maki shook his head. 'What were we thinking? Challenging him?' Maki thought as he decides to make his way to his team.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Winner, Kankuro!" Hayate said as Kankuro picks up his puppet and leaves the fighting ground.

Everyone were impressed that Kankuro actually tricked his opponent, thinking that he actually caught him when he just caught his puppet. Now they know what is actually bandaged on his back.

The screen then starts to again randomly choose for an opponent. All eyes are on the screen, not noticing that Maki was on the fighting ground making his way to the upper levels with his team. Hayate noticed that Maki seemed to be afraid of something and even though he is an ANBU, Maki is superior than him and him being afraid is something that is not very easy to be seen. However, the screen has already stopped and two names are on the screen. He nodded.

"Will Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino please come down?"

Ino stares at her opponent, Hinata as she jumps down to the fight arena. Hinata used to be such a shy girl but she seems to have gain some confident now. And that is something to be afraid of since she is a Hyuuga. Even though no one realises it yet, even the cousin of Hinata, Neji can see a change in his cousin and is impressed that she has become stronger now.

Just last week, he had a small spar with her in the Hyuuga compound and she was actually now able to keep up with him although she still lost. Neji did not tell anyone this but he now has some respect for his cousin.

"Don't worry Ino," Maki assured his student, "You'll be fine."

Ino nodded and jumped down to meet her opponent. They are now facing each other and Ino can tell that she is determined in this fight. Hinata activates her family's bloodline, the Byakugan and gets into the Hyuuga fighting stance, one that Ino knows. She is no match for a one on one combat against a Hyuuga. They are a family meant for a one on one fight while her powers are more to the scouting side.

"As much as I hate to say it," Maki said, sighing, "Ino is at a disadvantage."

Naruto turns around, "What do you mean? I thought you have been training her."

Maki popped a vein, feeling insulted, "Of course I have been training her and she has improved! But the problem is that Ino is now more suited to team battles than one on one combat. And also, she is against a Hyuuga, a family that specializes in one on one combat."

"Begin!" Hayate said and backs away.

"I don't want to hurt you, Ino-chan," Hinata starts to say, "But you can't beat me."

"That may be so," Ino said, taking out a kunai, "But we won't know until we try."

Hinata smiled, "I guess you're right. Prepare yourself!"

Hinata charges at Ino and aims for Ino's chest with an open palm. Ino knew that if she hits where her heart is, she is going to lose so she quickly jumps back, throwing her kunai at Hinata. Hinata dodges it and runs to Ino. Ino is trying to think of a way to beat Hinata without fighting her in close range.

'Using Mind transfer technique is out of the question since she is moving too much," Ino thought as she avoids an attack to her chest, 'And I can't keep using Mind block on her. It can only give me about two seconds to stall her and uses a lot of chakra.'

She is taken out of her thoughts as she sees Hinata's palm aimed for her face. She ducks but Hinata kicks Ino in the face, sending her thrashing through the ground. Although receiving the kick is a lot better than receiving the 'gentle fist' on her, it still hurts.

"Come on Ino!" Naruto encouraged, "You can beat her!"

"You can do this Hinata!" Kiba yelled.

Hinata nodded and charges at the down Ino. Now Maki knew where Hinata is getting her confidence. It seems that Kiba is the source and Ino is not getting any. She might be confident if maybe Sasuke would say that to her but Naruto to her is just a comrade. Her only motivation to fight is for her father and Sasuke.

Ino can see the charging Hinata and quickly forms two seals.

"Mind blocking technique!"

Hinata suddenly stopped but since she was running, the sudden stop causes her to fall face first to the ground. Ino only has two seconds and she is going to take full advantage of this. She runs to Hinata and when Hinata finally gains control of her body, she feels a fist hitting her hard on her right cheek, sending her to the ground again.

Ino looks at the fallen Hinata and is not moving. It seems that a punch was all that is needed to be given when Hinata starts to move, struggling to move. It seems that although Hinata has improved, her body is still weak and cannot take a lot of attacks.

Hinata wipes away some blood from her mouth and moves back to the Hyuuga stance but everyone can see that she is still in pain from the punch. As for Ino, she has been getting tired of avoiding all the attacks and she doesn't know how much more her adrenaline will allow her to do so.

Hinata charges at Ino, more determined than ever. Not only does she want to win this match, she wants to show her cousin and everyone else that she is a strong Hyuuga like her cousin, attacking with everything she got.

However, Ino is able to avoid all her attacks. Ino would have already lost had Maki not paid more attention to her. She really should thank him, whether she won or lost the match. She was once the weak one in the team but maybe soon, she can catch up with the boys in her team. However, she was too lost in thought that she did not pay enough attention to Hinata's attack as Hinata sends her right palm to Ino's chest, damaging the heart.

Ino coughs out blood from the impact, feeling a deep in her chest. Naruto and Maki immediately put their hands on the handles of the upper level, concerned of their team mate. Ino backs away a little, her hand trying to sooth the pain on her chest but she knew it was useless. The pain only damages the inside and only medical techniques can help.

Hinata smirks and prepares for the finishing blow, aiming for her face but Ino surprisingly avoided, jumping away to try and buy some time. Hinata looks at Ino and can tell that she is suffering from the pain.

"You should just quit, Ino." Hinata advised.

Ino looks up at Hinata, blood rolling out of her mouth, "Not a chance."

Meanwhile, Naruto has been wondering why such a weak attack can cause so much damage to Ino, "How come Hinata's attack is so powerful?"

"It is the way the Hyuuga attacks. An attack like that may look weak but the Hyuuga's release a certain amount of chakra in their palm and damages the chakra system."

"What's so painful about damaging the chakra system?"

Maki sighs, "Well, let's take you and me for example. Our attacks do harm on the outside of the body while the Hyuuga's attacks damage the inside. Because the chakra system has coils all over our organs, hurting the chakra system means hurting the internal organs and that is something that you can never train, no matter how strong you are."

Naruto has his eyes widened, "Wow, that is powerful."

"Like I said, Ino is at a disadvantage."

Hinata has given all the time she thinks that Ino would need to recover but she still seems to be injured. She did not want to hurt a comrade but since she is so stubborn, she will have to finish it. She runs up to Ino and when she strike Ino, a puff of smoke was created and Ino turned into a log.

"Replacement technique?" Hinata asked.

Luckily for Hinata, she has the Byakugan so she can see her behind. Ino is running at her with her left fist charged for the attack. Hinata quickly ducks, avoiding the punch and seeing an opening, the lands her palm on Ino's chest once more. Maki looked away when Hinata hit Ino and he knew it would be over since hitting the same spot would hurt a lot and Ino just cannot take the pain.

Ino coughed out blood. Even Sakura did not want to see her friend suffer, despite the fights she normally had with her, this kind of pain is too much. Hinata can tell that it was over the moment she had landed her fist on Ino's chest. Hinata smirked, looking at Ino suffocating and her fist still on Ino's chest. Then, Ino did the unexpected.

Ino grabs Hinata's wrist hard to make sure Hinata is unable to move. With the last ounce of strength, she delivers an uppercut to Hinata. Hinata soars through the air, blood splurting out of her mouth. Kiba and Naruto stares in shock. Kiba is in shock because he thought his team mate had won while Naruto is in shock that Ino has that much determination to prove to her team that she is not holding them back.

Ino collapses on her back the same time Hinata lands hard on the ground. The two female leaf Gennins are now on the ground, a few feet away from each other. Hayate looks at the two fallen ninjas and he can see that the two are no longer able to continue the fight. He coughs two times and raises his arms to declare the winner, with everyone wondering who it would be.

"Since the two competitors are no longer able to continue," Hayate announced, "The match is a draw!"

Everyone is silent upon hearing that. They can clearly see that Ino has been knocked uncounscious while Hinata can no longer get up. It seems that Hinata needs to train her body more. Medical ninjas immediately entered the fighting ground, examining both Hinata and Ino.

"Maki-sensei," Naruto said, turning around, "Who is now going to qualify for this match then?"

"What do you mean? You heard the referee; no one wins the match so no one is going to qualify for the match."

"But won't the match be uneven? I mean, won't it mean that someone will skip a match in the third exam?" Naruto asked.

Maki nodded, "Yeah, but trust me on this one Naruto. In the third part of the exam, the more you fight in the matches, the better."

Naruto looked confused but did not question any further. He turned to see his down team mate. Naruto is surprised that Maki was already down there, talking with one of the medics. Then again, being a Jounin, that isn't really surprising actually.

"How is she?" Maki asked one of the attending medics.

"Her heart has been damaged a little," The medic replied, his green chakra on her heart, "But it won't affect her in her ninja career. She will need about a week's rest."

Maki nodded, "That's good, I guess."

The two medics then put Ino on a stretcher and start carrying her away, most probably to the hospital. As the stretcher passed Maki, he looked at Ino's face. The blood on her mouth has already dried up.

"You have grown a lot Ino," Maki said softly as she passed him, "You have already proved to us all that you are a growing kunoichi. Your father would be proud."

Maki watch on until she finally disappeared. He then looks at where Hinata has fallen. She is still counscious but is having trouble standing up. Kurenai and a medic is helping her. Kurenai and Maki then gained eye contact and Maki felt surprised that Kurenai somehow had anger in her eyes. He did not know why. It's not like as if there is any rivalry between them.

"Alright," Hayate said loudly, "I will give you all two minutes to prepare for whoever is going to be called for the next match."

Although that was not really necessary, the young ninjas were happy about that. They could now talk with each other rather than get all stressed up, wondering who their opponent is going to be. Naruto is however, alone since all his team mates are gone. Sasuke is taken somewhere with Kakashi and Maki and now Ino is gone since she is too injured in her last fight.

"Hei, Naruto-kun." A familiar voice said.

Naruto turns to his right and sees his pink haired girlfriend. His mood immediately brightened and he gave his famous foxy grin, "Hei, Sakura-chan!"

"I'm sorry about Ino." Sakura said, watching her uncle climb the stairs and heading their way.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto assured, "Actually, I'm happy that she was actually able to make a draw with Hinata. Ino had been lacking in some self confidense as a ninja but maybe this will help."

Sakura nodded, "She never really wanted to be a ninja," Sakura added, "She was more interested in being a herb specialist in Konoha."

"Herb specialist?"

"Yeah, they specialise in making medicines in Konoha and finding new ways to cure diseases or injuries." Sakura said.

Naruto nodded and the two continue making small talk when Hayate said it was time for the next match. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at the black screen which is now randomly choosing names. After waiting for a few seconds, everyone stood in shock and surprise when the two names have been shown.

'Oh, this is not good!' Maki thought, 'Sakura won't stand a chance against him. Her genjutsu may be powerful but genjutsu's are useless against him since he can see them clearly.'

Sakura glares at her opponent and he is looking at her. The boy smiled and jumped down, standing next to the referee while Sakura remained where she was. She and Naruto had already met the boy and he seemed to be interested in fighting them. Now he is getting the chance. She felt a hand on her shoulder and realise it is from Naruto.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, trying to calm her down, "You can beat him. I believe it."

"I'm not so sure about that," Maki said, stepping behind him, "Sakura, as my niece, I would like to encourage you but against him, you might end up hurting yourself. His eyes can detect genjutsu and that is your main speciality. He has already defeated that with his eyes so your chances of victory are low."

Sakura knew her uncle was right. She looks down at her opponent again and then at Naruto. Naruto has a worried expression on his face. She then looks up at her uncle again.

Maki sighs and puts his hand on her shoulder, "However, if you choose to fight, I will still support you as much as I can, with Naruto here. I didn't want to make you feel weak, I am just trying to warn you about your opponent."

Sakura smiled, "I'll do my best."

With that, Sakura jumped down and came face to face with her opponent. The boy smiled when she approaced him and the two lock eyes. Naruto can feel the tension between Sakura and the boy and just hoped that she will win. But if what Maki said was true, then Sakura is really at a disadvantage since genjutsu is her only way of attack.

"I already know about your attacks," The boy said, the side of his eyes now has veins popping out, "And your destiny has already been laid in front of you. Your destiny is that you will lose to me."

Maki wished his niece the best of luck. He already promised himself that he will step in personally to stop the fight should it endanger Sakura's life. He looked at the black screen once again, looking at the names displayed.

HARUNO SAKURA VS HYUUGA NEJI


	21. Chuunin exam: Neji Vs Sakura

**Sorry for the slow update guys and I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Please review.**

CHAPTER 21: CHUUNIN EXAM: NEJI VS SAKURA

Everyone in the fighting grounds is now watching in excitement, wondering who will win the other. They know that Hyuuga Neji is the prodigy of his clan and is also the rookie of the year in last year's Gennin graduates. Also, his opponent, Haruno Sakura, is not a kunoichi to be underestimated even though she does not come from a ninja family.

Everyone knows that she is the niece of 'The Replicator' and is being trained personally under him. Now is the perfect chance for everyone that has never seen her fight to see her fighting abilites. The Hokage himself would like to see how good she is since her team was able to complete an A-rank mission last week or so.

"Maki-sensei," Naruto said, never taking his eyes away from Sakura, "What do you mean when that guy can see Sakura-chan's genjutsu?"

"I'm sure you noticed that during Ino's match, Hinata's eyes were a little different than usual, right?" Maki asked.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. There were some sorts of veins popping out of her eyes."

"Right," Maki said, starting his explanation, "That is the Hyuuga's bloodline limit, the Byakugan. It allows them to see the chakra system in our bodies. The eyes can help them when using the 'gentle fist' but with those eyes, they can genjutsu's clearly too."

Naruto looked even more confused, "How come?"

Maki sighed, "Okay, let me give you an example. You have been caught in her genjutsu where she used vines to attack you, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well," Maki continued, "With the Byakugan, they can still see the vines attacking them but they can see that the vines are infused with chakra. They can tell that they have been caught in a genjutsu. However, the Byakugan cannot see through all genjutsu's if the genjutsu is too strong."

Maki now stood nexto to Naruto, his hands on the railing, "The only way Sakura can win this match is by forcing Neji to use up all his chakra."

"How is she going to do that?"

Maki grinned, "This is why only people with good chakra control are advised to be genjutsu specialist since, like I've explained before, the better the chakra control the better your techniques are. And in a genjutsu case, the better your chakra control, the more chakra a person needs to use to release the genjutsu affect."

"So," Naruto looked at Sakura, "If Sakura-chan can keep using genjutsu's that force Neji to keep using chakra to release the genjutsu, she can win?"

Maki shook his head, "No, she just has a higher chance to win."

The two ninjas of team seven stop their conversation to now watch the match, hoping that the pink haired girl will emerge victorius.

Neji looks seriously at his opponent in front of him. He has already respected her and Naruto and also the Uchiha. He has heard about them completing high rank missions when they have only prepared themselves for a C-rank mission. Neji gets into the stance of the Hyuuga, prepared to give it all he has got in this match.

Even though he already knows that Sakura is a person who is only good at genjutsu, which his eyes can see it clearly, he will not underestimate her. His Byakugan is still not as good as the elite Hyuuga's and even if he was, the Byakugan cannot see through all the genjutsu's that are cast upon them.

"You should just quit," Neji said calmly, "Before you end up getting hurt."

Sakura smirks, her hand picking out a kunai, "And what makes you think I will end up getting hurt?"

"Because it is your destiny. You cannot change destiny."

Sakura gets into a defensive stance. "And how does destiny tell you that I will lose?"

Neji smiled, "Because I am a genius. And even if you work hard to become strong, the genius will always overcome the one that works hard."

Sakura narrows her eyes, "Maybe I can help hit some sense into your head?"

Neji activates his Byakugan, "You can try."

With that, he charges at the pink haired kunoichi. Sakura remembered that genjutsu are useless against the Hyuuga's and they are excellent in the Taijutsu area, which she is weak at. Ninjutsu is out of the question since she knows so little. She really is at a disadvantage.

She throws her kunai at Neji who easily dodges it and continues charging at her. She jumps back, forms three seals and cast the genjutsu. Neji can see huge shurikens coming at him but with his Byakugan, he can see chakra infused in the shurikens.

'Damn' Neji thought, 'This girl has perfect chakra control. It is going to make me use a lot of chakra to release this genjutsu. However, I just have to avoid them and attack the caster.'

Everyone that is watching the match can tell that Neji has been caught in Sakura's genjustu since he seems to be avoiding something, although to everyone's eyes, he is simply running around.

Neji finally reached Sakur and successfully attacked Sakura's chest, damaging her heart. To his surprise, Sakura's body slowly disolves and turns into pink petals and soon, Neji is surrounded by pink petals, clouding his vision.

People watching the match can see that Neji attacked absolutely nothing since Sakura is now behind him. Neji is like a lost dog, glancing left and right.

'Damn it,' Neji thought, 'This girl is good with genjutsu's. I can't see through anything, even with the Byakugan. I have no choice but to release this stupid technique.'

He forms the simple seal.

"Release!"

The pink petals dissolve and he can now see that he is back at the fighting grounds. Neji can't believe that he used such a large amount of chakra to just get out of that genjutsu. He glances at Sakura who is grinning, a kunai in her hand. Neji knew that he is going to have to be serious to beat her.

"You're pretty good." Neji commented.

"You just realised it?" Sakura remarked.

Sakura charges at Neji once again but picks out three shurikens at tosses it at Neji. Neji easily avoids it and Sakura took the opportunity to form seals again but Neji saw through it and tosses a kunai at her, causing her to stop the seals to avoid it. Neji lands on the ground a few feet in front of Sakura, his Byakugan seeing through her act.

"Now I understand," Neji said, "Like how you attacked me earlier, you need me to be distracted for at least a second for you to form the seals to cast the genjutsu. Am I right?"

"Not really," Sakura replied calmly, "That is just one of my methods."

Neji narrowed his eyes and charged forward, taking Sakura by surprise. He knew that he cannot afford to get caught in another genjutsu even if his eyes can see them. Sakura was too surprised by Neji's sudden charge that she did not prepare for any counter attack.

Neji aimed for her chest but Sakura avoided by side-stepping to her left. Sakura quickly tries a round-house kick but Neji grabbed her foot and using all his strength, tosses her to the wall. This move is definitely not used by a Neji as Sakura crashes hard on her back on the wall.

The next thing Sakura could feel was Neji's palm resting on her stomach and intense pain coming from that area. A small amount of blood escaped her mouth but she can still continue on in the match. She can see Neji coming for the second strike but she grabbed Neji's wrist on time with her right hand. Since she can't back away since she is already on the wall, she uses her free hand to grab a kunai. Neji saw this but his reactions were a little too slow.

Sakura waved the kunai in front of Neji, who made it on time to dodge the attack. Sakura clutched her stomach in pain from the attack earlier. It seems that the 'gentle fist' have damaged her stomach or perhaps her liver. She could not tell but she must not get another blow like that again or she might lose from the pain.

Neji himself know that he just neess one hit on Sakura and he can win the match. And just one strike on her heart will definitely beat her but right now, they are quite a distance from each other which gives Sakura the advantage since she is a genjutsu specialist. Neji can also feel a deep pain on his right cheek and feels it. Neji had a shock expression when he realise that Sakura was able to scar him, blood on his hand.

"You are definitely a strong opponent." Neji complimented Sakura.

Sakura did not respond as she is trying to think of a way to beat her opponent. She knows she cannot beat him in a Taijutsu contest so that is out of the question.

'Maybe it is time we do what uncle Maki taught us.' Sakura thought to herself.

Flashback

It was a regular day in Konoha and Sakura is now patiently waiting for Naruto and her uncle so that they can train for today. However, the two are running late. She can understand if Naruto is late since he is the kind of guy to forget things but her uncle is a person whom is rarely late. She is also getting frustrated since patience is something that she is not very good at.

Sakura is currently sitting under a tree to protect herself from the strong heat coming from the sun. After sitting down there for another three minutes, a figure entered the training grounds and she immediately recognised the man. She stood back up, waiting for him.

"I sure hope you have a good reason for being late, uncle Maki!" Sakura said angrily when Maki reached her.

"I apologise," Maki said, scratching his hair, "But I had another lecture from the Hokage."

Sakura sighed, "Why can't you just learn some manners, uncle? And teach Naruto that too!"

"I can't help it," Maki exclaimed, "Even my brother scolded me for such things but I just can't seem to learn."

Sakura wasn't listening. She was looking left and right, "Where is Naruto?"

"Oh, he is on a mission right now with his team. I am not needed on the mission since it is just to repair some broken fences and cleaning the house."

"So it is just you and me?" Sakura asked.

Maki nodded, "And today's training will be a secret."

With that, Maki took out a very small pocket from one of his Jounin's pockets. Sakura know that the Jounin vest is used to carry those small kinds of scrolls and it is also used as protection. Although the vest seems to be fragile, the vest is actually quite strong and can at least reduce the impact of a kunai.

"Here," Maki said, throwing the scroll to Sakura.

Sakura catches the small scroll, a questioning look on her face, "What is this?"

Maki now has his hands on his hips with a dead serious expression, "It is a scroll that has a technique for you to learn. I know you are in the genjutsu field but even a genjutsu specialist requires some basic knowledge of other techniques."

"How come?"

"Sakura, there might come a time when you face an enemy ninja that can easily counter genjutsu's that you throw at him so you just might need to beat him by either using Ninjutsu or Taijutsu. Since you are weak in Taijutsu, you are more suited to learn ninjutsu's."

Sakura nodded her head and opens the scroll. She can see the name of the technique and is surprised that her uncle would actually have suggested learning this technique. It is a B-rank technique and she already knows of the power since she has seen her uncle perform this technique a lot.

"You actually expect me to learn this?" Sakura asked, shocked in her voice.

Maki nodded, "This technique suits best when your chakra control is good and since yours is very good, it should be quite devastating. Also, it can be used as a distraction for you to cast a genjutsu."

Sakura gulped and started reading the scroll, learning how to perform the technique. Although the way the scroll said seems to be easy, when she tried it, it was difficult to use. She glanced at her uncle who seems to be lost in thought. She can't believe that her uncle can use this technique easily and she can tell that his technique is at it's maximum.

'If uncle Maki can do it, I can do it!' She thought to herself, 'I am a Haruno after all.'

End of Flashback

Sakura remembered the seals she will need to use that technique. Also, she has never shown anyone that she can use this technique. The only person who has seen it is the person that taught her.

Sakura looks at Neji in the eyes. His Byakugan still activated and with those eyes, he can always see the seals she is performing and what types of genjutsu she will be performing. She needs to use this technique and use the most powerful genjutsu she knows to beat him. It will require a large amount of chakra but it is the only way. She has made her choice.

'It looks like she is going to use it.' Maki thought.

"It seems she is either going to win or lose in her next move." Maki said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, wondering what Maki meant.

Maki looks at Sakura, "With her low chakra capacity, she will be using techniques that will need to use up most of her chakra." Maki explained.

Naruto then looks at Sakura, wondering what she is planning.

Sakura takes a deep breath and charges at Neji, something that caught everyone by surprise since charging against a Taijutsu specialist should never be done. Neji himself is confused and gets into the Hyuuga stance. He knew that Sakura is planning something since charging at him is only a dumb person would do.

Sakura then starts forming the seals required. With the Byakugan activated, Neji can see that Sakura is gathering chakra to her throat.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Everyone was in shock as Sakura blew out a large fireball, one that is actually even larger than Sasuke. Neji himself is in shock and quickly jumps to his right. He successfully avoided it but now he can no longer find Sakura anywhere.

Everyone watching the fight was impressed that Sakura can cast such a big fireball at her level. Her chakra control had actually helped her so much that her fire was as large as Maki. Maki himself is surprised that his niece actually went so far in their 'secret' training to improve so much.

Neji realise that he is already in a genjutsu since everyone else is no longer watching him. He is alone in the fighting grounds and the place seems to be darker than usual. Suddenly, seven large shurikens were coming at him from every directions but he can see that all seven of them are infused with chakra.

'Wait,' Neji thought, inspecting one of the shuriken, 'One of them is not infused with chakra.'

Even though getting hit by the shuriken will not damage him physically, it will hurt his mind. He avoids all the shurikens easily but then he could feel a sharp pain at the back of his left thigh. He looks at it and realise that a shuriken is plunged deep in, blood seeping down his thigh.

'Impossible!' Neji thought, 'This is physical pain! How can this be? Isn't this a genjutsu?'

Ignoring all the pain, he takes out the shuriken. He can tell that this shuriken is real and not from a genjutsu. He is even more confused than ever when another wave of shurikens are coming at him again and only one of them is not infused with chakra.

'Damn it, I guess I have to use 'that' to find out what is going on.' Neji thought.

Everyone that is watching the match can tell that Neji is having trouble in the genjutsu which is rare since he has the Byakugan. He also seems to be having trouble to avoid shurikens that Sakura is throwing at him. However, the Jounins and expeirenced ninjas watching this match understand what is happening and are surprised that Sakura used such a high level genjutsu. However, this technique uses a lot of chakra.

This kind of genjutsu involves both mental and physical pain. This kind of genjutsu requires a large amount of chakra because of the chakra infused in the shurikens. The person caught in the genjutsu will still try to avoid the shurikens but he can never do so since those shurikens are to distract him when the shuriken that is not infused with chakra, a real shuriken, is thrown at him.

Neji, still caught in genjutsu started spinning and just as the shurikens were about to hit him. Then, a blue shield envelops around Neji, blowing away all the shurikens, including the real shuriken thrown at Sakura.

Everyone of the Jounins watching the match recognised that move. It was the Kaiten and only those of the Hyuuga can use that technique but for a Gennin to use it, is truly impressive. Also, the real shuriken that is thrown at Neji is thrown back at Sakura, causing her to avoid the shuriken and dispelling the genjutsu.

Neji is out of the genjutsu and he can see Sakura a few feet in front of him. However, he smiled when he can see that Sakura's body is completely out of chakra. She has no more chakra to use any more genjutsu and this will be the end of her.

"You have lost," Neji said, moving into the Hyuuga stance, "And no more shall your stupid mind tricks disturb me. Destiny has been laid upon you."

With that, he charged at Sakura. Sakura is too weak and tired from using that high level genjutsu and it should have worked if it weren't for that stupid technique used by Neji that caused Sakura to dispel the genjutsu. She can see Neji getting nearer and nearer and the last thing she heard was Naruto calling her name.

Neji laid his palm on Sakura, right where the heart should be. The impact caused Sakura to fall back, her heart in pain from the attack. She landed on her back a few feet away from Neji, coughing out blood from the pain. Neji relaxed and disactivated his Byakugan, knowing that Sakura has lost.

Maki shook his head, "Sakura has lost the match. There is no way for her to continue."

"How can you say that?!" Naruto said angrily, "She is your niece! I thought you promised her that you will believe in her?"

"I know what I promised!" Maki roared, "But look at what Neji has done to her? Even as a ninja, I never wanted to see her in pain like this!"

Hayate is currently inspecting the injured pink haired kunoichi and has made his decision. He stands up and was about to make the announcement when to everyone's shock, Sakura slowly gets back to her feet. She had blood seeping out of her mouth, some dried while some are still wet.

Sakura is clutching her heart in pain and also desperately trying to stand. Hayata now did not know what to do. Most ninjas would have just given up but it seems that Sakura is right now pushing herself to the limits. Neji's mouth was slightly open from the shock that Sakura can still be standing up after he had attacked her heart.

Neji, unlike Hinata, has mastered the 'gentle fist' so all his blows are about three times stronger than Hinata. Sakura had actually received the blow of an experienced Hyuuga and here she is, barely standing.

"I won't lose," Sakura said weakly, "Not to you."

Neji narrowed his eyes, "Just give up. You will end up dead if you continue."

Sakura coughed out blood once more, "I can continue," She said to Hayata, "Please don't end this match yet."

"Can't you see that destiny has already said you will lose?" Neji asked, shaking his head, "You can't change..."

"Shut up!" Sakura interrupted the Hyuuga, "Just what makes you think that destiny has said that you will beat me?"

Neji smirked, "The fact that you are actually forcing yourself to stand." Neji then turned serious, "And also because I am a genius. Those that are born a genius will always beat the one's that work hard. No matter how hard they train, the genius will always beat them."

Naruto and Maki are currently holding in their anger to beat Neji up but they had to restrain themself. However, unlike Maki, Naruto is also releasing a large amount of killing intent and this is also because of the Kyuubi. Gaara himself could feel it and for the first time, made him feel a little bit of hesitation to fight Naruto.

"I will warn you once more," Neji advised, turning to the Hyuuga stance, "Forfeit now or your life will end."

Sakura scoffed, "I won't quit just because of your threats. I am a kunoichi of Konoha and I will not give up that easily."

With that answer, Neji activated his Byakugan and charged straight at Sakura. Sakura could feel her heart throb in pain and she can barely avoid the attack. Neji has every intent on killing her and Maki sensed this.

'Damn it,' Maki thought, pulling out his custom kunai, 'If she receives another blow to the heart again, she will die!'

Maki threw the kunai right in front of Sakura.

"Release!"

Maki threw it so fast that all the Gennin's never saw it and so was surprised when a shadow clone of Maki appeared in front of Sakura. Neji is surprised too and the next thing he knows is that his right hand was grabbed hard and a cold metal placed at his neck. The grip is so strong that he can barely move and the speed that Maki moved was too fast.

"Hayate," The shadow clone said, "The match between these two is over."

The moment he said that, Sakura coughed out blood once more but this time, it was serious and she collapsed to the ground, losing counsciousness. Naruto quickly jumped down and ran to Sakura. Neji is currently trying to get out of the grip but Maki was too strong.

"Winner, Hyuuga Neji!" Hayate announced.

Instantly upon the announcement, medic ninjas rushed into the fighting ground, inspecting Sakura. Sakura could barely see Naruto but she smiled weakly that Naruto was that concerned for her and she will have to thank her uncle for actually saving her life. The blow that Neji was about to give could have killed her. As Sakura begin to close her eyes, the last thing she saw was Naruto.

The medic ninjas are currently carrying Sakura and putting her on a stretcher. Then, two of the medic ninjas are carrying her away, most likely to the hospital. Naruto and Maki watch on until the medical ninjas finally disappeared from sight.

The clone holding Neji finally dispelled itself. Naruto then glared at Neji with every intent of ending his life right here but he had to restrain himself. That is something that Maki taught him and that is to never fight with a comrade unless he is a traitor.

"Don't give me that look," Neji warned, "She had caused her own destiny to be like that when she could have just forfeited the match. That was her own fault."

Naruto did not answer. Instead, he bent down and grabbed a handful of blood that Sakura coughed out earlier. Everyone, including the Hokage watch in silence, knowing that Naruto cared a lot for Sakura. Maki himself wondered what Naruto was about to do. Naruto then showed Neji a fist, the blood of Sakura dripping slowly from the fist.

"With the blood on my hands right now," Naruto said, his eyes locking with Neji, "I swear that I will beat you in the finals. Believe it!"

Neji could tell from Naruto's voice that he just might be telling the truth. For the first time in Neji's life, he felt threatened. He has already heard that Naruto is a strong ninja that specialises in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. It seems that he will have to prepare himself for the finals.

Maki smiled, knowing that Sakura will one day be married to someone that will love her so much that the person will give up his own life for her. Not that he wants Naruto to die but the love he has for her is that big.

Then, the black screen starts to randomly select the names for the next match. Neji makes his way back to his team while Naruto walked back to Maki, ignoring the glares given to him by the other ninjas. Then, the black screen stopped and the two names that were shown were two powerful ninjas.

"Yosh!" A voice said loudly, "It is finally time for people to see how my youth will help in my fight!"

"That's right, Lee!" Gai said, agreeing with his student, "It is time for the spring time of youth!"

With that, Lee jumped down to the fighting grounds. His opponent stared coldly at him and jumps down to face Lee. Maki could feel the intensity of the match and after what just happened, Lee's opponent will definitely not be in the mood to show Lee any mercy.

"This will be a perfect opportunity to fight for Sakura's love!" Lee said enthusiastically.

"Do not mention her name," Lee's opponent said, his eyes filled with anger, "Because she loves no one but me."

The two then lock eyes, waiting for Hayate to start the match. Maki sighed, hoping that he will qualify with Sasuke. After all, it is time those two release the tension of wondering who is better than the other. Maki looks at the black screen, the two names mentioned. This will indeed be an interesting fight.

ROCK LEE VS UZUMAKI NARUTO

Hayate coughs a few more times and clears his throat. He looks at Lee who seems to be unable to contain his excitement in fighting the blonde ninja. He then glances at Naruto who is right now, ready to end this match as quickly as possible. Hayate smiled. He himself is wondering who is going to win.

"Begin!"


	22. Chuunin exam: End of the preliminary

**Alright, here is the new update guys. I dont really have much to say here, sorry.**

**So, I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review this story. Hehe.**

**Oh yeah! I am bloody pissed with people who fav this story. At least leave 1 review! I have so many fav's but none leave a review, except a few of my loyal readers which have done so. I thank those and those that have reviewed in the past.**

**Anyways, enjoy! hehe**

CHAPTER 22: CHUUNIN EXAMS: END OF THE PRELIMINARY

In the fighting grounds, all of the Gennins and Jounins are quite excited about this match. Everyone knows about Naruto's reputation about completing a B-rank mission two weeks ago. They know that he is a talented Gennin and has the potential of being a Chuunin since he also has the brains of one. He just has to beat Lee, the personal and favourite student of Konoha's green beast, Maito Gai.

People that know and seen Lee fight know that he is not going to lose that easily. The only person that he always lose to is to his team mate, Hyuuga Neji. Even if Naruto is as strong as they he is, he is going to have a hard fight with a Taijutsu specialist like Lee. That is why everyone is wondering who is going to win this fight, even the Hokage.

The Hokage holds the most information of the two Gennins since their Jounins have to always give in mission reports to him. He has read that these two students are rising shinobi's in the village of Konoha and now, in this fight, will they determine who is the better ninja. The Hokage took out his pipe, signifying that he is putting his full attention in this match.

Lee moved into a weird fighting stance. His left hand is behind his back and his right hand, is in front of him, invinting Naruto to attack. Naruto has a kunai in his hand and is thinking of ways on how to fight Lee. He knows nothing about Lee and his powers so he will have to learn everything in this fight.

"This will be a good opportunity to fight for Sakura's heart." Lee said, trembling with excitement.

Naruto gave a death glare, "I already warned you to not mention her name. And she belongs to me!"

"That is why we should make this match a fight for her. If I win, I get a date with her."

"I don't like where this is going," Naruto said carefully, "But since you don't stand much against me, I accept."

Lee has fire in his eyes, "Yosh! I like it when my opponent is full of confidence! They will give it all they have and so will I! Now I can definitely show everyone the power of youth!"

"What's with you and youth?" Naruto asked, getting freaked out by the boy in front of him. Even his outfit, the green spandex is starting to freak Naruto out.

Lee simply smiled and then charged at Naruto. Naruto was surprised by the boy's sudden charge and he remembered what Maki taught him.

"You should never charge at your opponent head on unless you are stronger than him." Maki had said in their B-rank mission during training.

Naruto jumped back and threw several shurikens at Lee who easily avoided it and continued the charge. Naruto can see that Lee has a lot of confidence in himself and Naruto knew that he will have to be careful against him. It seems that Lee prefers close combat fights, which happens to be Naruto's speciality as well. Naruto quickly forms the simple seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Four Naruto's appeared which caught Lee by surprised. All five Naruto's charge at Lee. Lee met the first clone and the clone tried to punch Lee's face but Lee easily avoided and gave a kick to the clone's gut, dispelling the clone. However, the white smoke that appeared after the clone dispelled clouded his vision and was surprised to see two Naruto's appearing in front of him.

Lee can see the clone wielding a kunai aimed at his face. He quickly moved his face back on time but the second clone expected that and attacked Lee's ankles, causing Lee to fall on his back. The clone that attacked with the kunai quickly threw the kunai at the fallen Lee. Lee rolled to his left and quickly jumped back to his feet. He quickly scanned the area and he can only see three Naruto's but he remembered there were four.

Lee could feel someone grab his two arms from behind, holding them tightly. Lee looked back and realise that the missing Naruto was behind him. He looked back in front of him and he can see two kunai's coming at quickly cocked his head to his right on time; the kunai's missing his face but hitting the clone holding him, dispelling the clone. Lee smiled at Naruto, getting pumped up for the fight.

"You're good, Naruto-kun." Lee commented, moving back to his weird stance.

Naruto smirked, "Get ready for the next attack then."

'Damn it,' Lee thought, looking at the three clones and the real Naruto, 'Fighting four of him is hard. I will need to beat all of them.'

The four Naruto's charge at Lee and Lee also charge forward. When the first clone is within rage, he jumps a little and turns around in a three hundred and sixty degree spin.

"Konoha Whirlwind!" Lee shouted as he kicks the clone, his leg swinging in a rainbow arc.

The clone dispelled immediately. The second clone threw two kunai's at Lee. When the kunai neared Lee, Lee quickly spun around and with magnificent speed, grabbed the kunai and tossed them back the clone. The clone was so shocked by Lee's speed that it had no time to avoid the kunai or block it. The two kunai landed on the clone's chest and dispelled instantly.

Lee started scanning the arena and when he could not find the last clone, he simply ducked. The clone behind Lee was surprised that Lee avoided the punch. With Lee below Naruto, Lee elbowed Naruto's clone on the gut. The clone gasped for air. With Lee's elbow still on Naruto's stomach area, he raised his hand. The back of lee's palm hit the clone square in the face, dispelling the clone.

Everyone was impressed that Lee easily defeated all three of the clones with using nothing but Taijutsu. Of course, the Gennins did not know that Lee do not know any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu.

Lee could not find the real Naruto anywhere. He looked left and right and then behind him. He was not seen in those three directions. Then, the realisation hit him. He looked above him on time to see Naruto ready to deliver a kick to his head. Lee quickly crossed his arms above his head and Naruto delivered the blow, his leg crashing between Lee's crossed arms. Lee quickly took the opportunity to grab Naruto's leg and started spinning, still holding Naruto. When Lee can feel that he is charged up for the throw, he released the hold and Naruto went sailing through the air and crashing on the wall, leaving a crack on the wall.

Naruto gritted his teeth in pain, getting off the wall and holding his back. He looked at Lee, who was once again in his weird stance. Naruto wondered why didn't Lee take the opportunity to attack him.

"Why didn't you attack me?" Naruto asked.

"To what purpose?" Lee said back, "By the time I run up to you, you would have thought of a counter-attack."

"That is true," Naruto replied, getting into a defensive stance, "But you could have attacked me from afar with Ninjutsu's."

Lee grinned sadly, "I'm afraid I know none."

The answer shocked everyone, except for Gai and the other Konoha superiors. They already know about Lee's sad story but it was because of Gai and Lee's determination to become a ninja that he finally got where he is right now.

"You know nothing?" Naruto repeated and Lee shook his head. "Then how the hell do you fight your enemies?" Naruto asked.

"With Taijutsu." Lee answered, "It may be true that I am at a huge disadvantage, not knowing any Ninjutsu's or Genjutsu. But, I took my spare time with training my Taijutsu in speed and strength and I am now a Taijutsu specialist. So, don't underestimate me."

Naruto smiled, "I never did."

Lee has his fist up again, his eyes on fire, "YES! That is what I like about you, Naruto-kun! You have so much youth in you that it just charges me up!"

Naruto sweatdropped, "Right, so let's get back to the fight."

With that, Naruto ran forward to Lee. Naruto jumped up and threw several shurikens at Lee to distract him. Lee avoided them by moving back and Naruto took the opportunity to lunge at him, while still in the air. Lee saw Naruto coming at him and quickly spun around, his leg in a rainbow arc.

"Konoha Whirlwind!" Lee shouted but Naruto blocked it with his right arm. That was a mistake as pain shot throughout Naruto's arm and he can tell that Lee has a lot of power in his legs.

Lee quickly did an upper-cut, his fist connecting with Naruto. Naruto shot up in the air with pain, blood splurting out of his mouth. Lee quickly jumped up to the same level as Naruto and with the two in the air, Lee quickly started delivering blows to Naruto's body. After several blows, he charges his left leg and kicks Naruto hard in the chest, sending him back and crashing into the wall. However, the impact was so strong that Naruto crashed into the wall. Lee landed safely on the fighting ground, looking at the black hole in the wall where Naruto is.

"Is he defeated?" Lee asked Hayate, wondering if that kick was enough to finish Naruto.

Before Hayate could answer, Naruto appeared out of the hole with two line of blood flowing down his mouth. Naruto jumped forward at Lee and Lee is surprised that Naruto might repeat the same mistake again but he is not going to give Naruto mercy. He starts to spin around again to deliver another 'Konoha Whirlwind' when he realised that he can see another Naruto at the hole in the wall.

Lee looked at the Naruto in front of him, "A shadow clone?"

The real Naruto, who is at the entrance of the hole in the wall smirked and started forming seals. With Lee and the clone of Naruto still in the air, Lee is vulnerable.

"Wind release! Air's fury!"

From Naruto's body, Lee can see a large force coming at him. The force is at the shape of a box and with Lee in the air, he cannot jump to avoid it. The box crashed on Lee, pushing him backwards. Lee found it strange that the box is not causing him any pain when suddenly, the box exploded and Lee can feel three large cuts on his chest. He looked down and he realise that there are three cuts, blood seeping out and staining his green spandex.

Lee was so caught up with checking his wound that he did not pay any attention at Naruto. Lee can feel a kick crashing on his left shoulder, sending him to the ground. Lee landed hard on the ground, leaving a small crack. Naruto landed a few feet away from Lee, panting lightly. Hayate looked at Lee and he can see that Lee can still continue.

Lee slowly got back up to his feet, clutching his chest, "Not bad, Naruto-kun. Your use of shadow clones actually fooled me."

Naruto smiled at the compliment, "I'm surprised that you're still standing. That kick I delivered was quite strong and the Wind technique should have forced you to stay on the ground due to the pain."

Despite the pain, Lee gave a thumb's up and got into a pose, his tooth shining brightly, "That is because of the power of youth inside me."

Naruto sighed and knew he really has to put his full potential to beat Lee here. He quickly formed a seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

This time, eight Naruto's appeared and Lee looked at his surroundings. He is in a bad situation now. He is in pain, Naruto's Taijutsu is impressive and Naruto also knows Ninjutsu. It seems that Naruto must have been training in Taijutsu to be this good and with his use of shadow clones, Naruto has a higher advantage.

"Lee!" A voice called out.

Lee turned to the familiar voice and is now looking at his teacher with his thumbs up.

"You can take it off!" Gai said, his tooth shining brightly.

Lee's eyes widen upon hearing that, "But, sensei, you said to never..."

"I give you my permission!" Gai interrupted, "It seems that you have to show your youthful opponent your full potential."

Lee seemed stunt for a moment and then broke into a smile, looking at Naruto dead in the eyes. Naruto can tell that Lee seemed even more confident than ever and he and all of his clones took out a kunai, prepared for whatever Lee has in store for him. Naruto know that Lee is going to be revealing his true power now so he has to be ready.

Lee bent down and started taking out something from his feet. Everyone started to wonder what he is taking when he took out several weird items. Naruto looked at them in confusion and Lee released the items. The items crashed on the ground, leaving a large crack. Naruto's jaw dropped, realising that Lee was actually wearing weights. And heavy weights to add.

"Now I can move quicker!" Lee said loudly and suddenly disappeared.

Naruto's eyes widen when his clone to his right suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. He saw Lee next to him and then suddenly, disappeared again. The next thing he know was that another clone of Naruto's was dispelled. He saw Lee delivering another kick to the nearest clone and then disappearing again.

'Damn it, how can he get so fast?' Naruto thought worriedly, his clone dispelling left and right.

In just fifteen seconds, all of his clones are gone and only the real Naruto is left standing alone in the fighting ground. The next thing Naruto can feel is a fist deep in his gut, causing Naruto to drop on his knees, gasping for air. Then, he can feel a kick to his ribs, sending him thrasing through the ground. He was again bleeding. Not only did Lee get faster but his attacks are stronger now.

Naruto slowly got back to his feet but he can feel a fist landing on his right cheek, blood coming out of his mouth and then a kick on his chist, sending him high up into the air. Naruto is seen soaring up and then another kick landing on his head, sending him thrashing back to the ground. Naruto is struggling now with more blood coming out of his mouth and now, his forehead is bleeding a little from the kick.

Deciding that he needs a few seconds to think, he quickly formed a seal with more chakra in his seal.

"Mass shadow replication technique!"

About thirty Naruto's appeared, all surrounding the real Naruto. Naruto quickly took this opportunity to sit and think on the current situation. He cannot beat Lee now since he can barely see him.

'So what are you going to do now, Naruto?' Maki thought to himself, looking at Naruto.

A clone of Naruto is dispelled and Naruto started to think even more. He know that training cannot help him here so he decides to start thinking about Maki's advises. Some of his advice or tips sometimes help him and starts to think. Then, a thought appeared.

Flashback

Naruto and Sakura are busy training. Naruto decided to strengthen his Wind techniques by repeatedly using them while Sakura is trying to increase her chakra capacity by climbing the tree. Naruto knew that Sakura will definitely be the best in chakra control in Konoha since she is doing this exercise almost everyday.

Maki himself is somehwere training, saying that even a Jounin has to train. Naruto is still wondering why Maki would always grab a leaf and then burn the leaf with his chakra. He will never understand why Maki liked to do that, saying that he was training his nature. He never knew that Maki was such a freak with nature.

"Naruto?" A voice called out, startling Naruto.

Naruto turned to the source of the voice and he realised that it was Maki, sitting on a tree branch.

"Maki-sensei?"

"Yeah, can you come here for a bit?" Maki asked, patting a seat next to him on the tree branch.

Naruto shrugged and jumped up, sitting next to his teacher.

"I wanted to tell you something important about you and your Wind chakra." Maki stated.

"Wind chakra?" Naruto repeated, confused.

"I will explain to you about that when you are a Chuunin but for now, just know that your techniques are best suited for Wind technique."

"So that is why you only teach me Wind techniques?" Naruto asked.

Maki nodded, "Your chakra is infused with Wind but anyway, you should know that your chakra has the same speciality with Earth chakra."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And what is that speciality?"

"This speciality," Maki begin to explain, "Is good to fight against invisbile opponents. Or should I say, against opponents that cannot be seen by the eye."

"How can I not see my enemy?" Naruto asked.

"There are lots of factors. Some could be by speed, some by a technique. There are many ways." Maki responded, "But back to the point, your Wind chakra, can sense these enemies."

"How do I do that?"

Maki smiled, "Simple. You just have to send out your chakra to your surroundings. Since you are Wind chakra, you can sense the surroundings, even with your eyes closed. For example, let's just say that enemy in invisible and he is moving, you will be able to sense that he is moving and you fight him even when he is invisible."

Naruto nodded in awe, "So I just have to send out my chakra to the surroundings and I can sense him."

"In a way." Maki answered, "I just thought I should tell you that. Anyway, get back to your training. I need to tell Sakura something."

End of Flashback

Naruto smiled, finally finding out a way to detect Lee. He looked at his surroundings and he realise that his army of clones are getting lesser and lesser by the second, Lee dispelling them one by one. Naruto knew he will have to act fast to beat Lee and quickly starts to form a seal and started concentrating on releasing his chakra.

Maki looked at Naruto and he already know what he is doing. Maki smiled, proud that his student is getting wiser in battle. However, Naruto will have to act fast since releasing chakra takes time. Maki slapped his forehead, forgetting to tell Naruto that. Hopefully, his clones can distract Lee long enough.

After a full two minutes, Naruto has finally released the chakra to the fighting grounds and true to what Maki had told him, he can sense everything around him. He can feel the people on the upper-level, his clones and Lee who is moving very fast. Lee just dispelled his last clone and is coming at Naruto. Naruto now relied on his feeling and when he can feel Lee ready for a punch, he quickly ducked. He can feel a long object right above him and Naruto guessed that it was Lee's arm. Naruto quickly did an upper-cut and his fist connecting with Lee's chin.

Naruto can sense Lee soaring in the air but Lee again moved fast back to the ground and coming at him with great speed. Naruto quickly formed seals.

"Wind release! Wind barrier technique!"

A large amount of air gathered at Naruto's body and then suddenly, released. Lee can feel a large force pushing him back and the force was so strong that Lee, despite his great increase in speed was not enough and Lee was sent crashing into the wall, a large black hole appeared where Lee was.

Lee came out of the hole about half a minute later, his green spandex dirty and a few scars on his face, a small amount of blood seeping out of the scars. Naruto opened his eyes and he can see that Lee is injured but Naruto did not stop releasing the chakra, knowing that Lee is still fast.

Lee looked at Naruto in the eyes, impressed that Naruto was able to stop him. He never met anyone that was able to hit him when he released the weights, not even Neji with the Byakugan. Whatever Naruto did, it seems that Lee will lose since Naruto has beated Lee's speed. He looked at Gai, who is rubbing his chin and wondering what to think. Lee closed his eyes.

'It looks like I will have to use 'that' to beat him.' Lee thought.

Lee sighed and started to unwrap his bandages on his arms. Naruto narrowed his eyes, wondering what Lee is about to do. When Lee is finished unwrapping the bandages, he looked at Naruto with serious eyes.

"Lee!" Gai yelled, "You can't do that! It is forbidden!"

Lee ignored his favourite teacher's warning and looked at Naruto in the eyes. All of the clones are also expecting for Lee's attack but Lee is now going to ignore them. He is just targeting the real one since his secret technique will only be one target. He calmed himself and then, ran up to Naruto.

All of the clones jumped at Lee but Lee did not even stop to avoid or hit them. Some of the clones were able to scar him but it was not going to stop him. Also, he is too fast so the clones can barely touch him. Lee finally came face to face with Naruto with onle a few scars. Naruto was already forming seals to counter Lee but lee was not going to have any of that.

Lee bent down so much that he had to use one of his hands to support him and then, with all his might, kicked Naruto on the chin, sending him high into the air. Naruto was almost knocked uncounscious from the kick since the kick was so powerful. Naruto had so many blood coming out from his mouth that some of it landed on Lee. Lee then jumped up to the same level of Naruto but since the two are still soaring up, Lee took the time to lay a few punches on Naruto, injuring him further. When Lee was done, he started to wrap Naruto with the bandages that he unwrapped from his hands earlier. Then, Lee grabbed Naruto and turned him around so that the two are now crashing to the ground, head first.

Everyone watched in horror as the arena could have blown up. The impact was so strong that the ground cracked and a large crater was formed. The whole arena was covered in dust and some of the pieces of the ground were thrown everywhere. Everyone wondered what happened when they saw Lee climbing out of the Lee, bruised and injured.

"It looks like Lee won." Maki said to himself, saddened that his student lost.

Hayate looked into the crater and he can see something that caused his eyes to widen. He didn't know what Naruto was planning but it might work. He looked at Lee who was crawling away from the crater, panting. Then, Naruto also crawled out of the crater and everyone gasped in shock.

"Impossible." Gai muttered, "No one should still be up after directly getting by the lotus."

Maki narrowed his eyes. He knows that whatever Lee did, Naruto should be uncounscious by now. Then, he realised something different about Naruto. Naruto's eyes are red in colour and his hair is even more spiky and his whisker marks have become more thick. A large amount of chakra is felt and the chakra is not normal. Naruto has somehow used the Kyuubi's chakra and Lee is in trouble.

Lee had his jaw opened from the shock of seeing Naruto still on his two feet and here is Lee, sitting down from just using the 'Lotus.' He can also see that Naruto looked different and he assumed that Naruto used his inner power to avoid the full impact.

'If that can't beat him, then I only have one option. This match is getting personal since it is a fight for Sakura-san's heart.' Lee thought.

"It looks like Lee is going to release the gates." Gai said to himself but Maki overheard it.

Maki turned to Gai, "You aren't talking about..."

Gai nodded, "Lee is taking this match too far but even I can't stop him now."

"Impossible!" Maki said loudly in disbelief, "A Gennin to open the gates is impossible."

"Maki," Gai said seriously, turning to look at the pink haired Jounin in the eye, "Lee can open five of the gates."

"Five?" Maki repeated in shock.

Lee bent his knees and crossed his arms to cover his face. He then started gathering chakra to release the first gate, which is the 'Initial gate.' Lee had veins popping out of Lee's forehead due to the pain but Lee is going to go through with this. He can see that the transformed Naruto seems to be waiting for Lee and Lee took the time to release the gates. He opened the second, then the third, the fourth and finally the fifth gate and by this time, his face is all red, his hair has become spiky.

With unbelievable speed, he charged at Naruto and laid the first punch on the transformed Naruto. Naruto, despite having the power of the Kyuubi, was thrown away by the impact. Lee continued on beating Naruto up, landing blows left and right, not giving Naruto any mercy.

Everyone stood their ground as they watched Lee beating Naruto senseless. They can see Naruto, despite his new transformation coughing out blood from the powerful punches. They can hear Naruto's jaw breaking and Lee finally charged up for the final blow, delivered a kick to Naruto's chest, sending him thrashing to the ground and creating another small crater. They could hear Naruto's ribs broken from the kick and they know that Naruto will be in critical condition from this fight and he is definitely defeated.

Lee was now back to normal and dropped to his knees, coughing out a small amount of blood for putting his muscles too much in pain. He is trembling from the pain and his vision in blurry. But despite all this, he is happy since he can get a date with the pink haired beauty. He dropped on his left side in exhaustion and he looked at the referee. He realised that the referee had not yet made the announcement that he had won.

He looked at where Hayate was looking and he turned to see Naruto standing on his two feet, perfectly fine. He could not believe it then he heard something that shocked him. The crater where Naruto was just beaten up with the released gates had a sound. The sound was the kind of sound when a clone was dispelled.

"You got that right," Naruto said, smirking, "That was just a clone. When you hit me with the 'Lotus,' I quickly created a clone to go after you in my place so that you think that I am still okay. I knew that would force you to use all your power to beat me and now that you have, I will beat you."

Lee struggled to get up but the strain in his muscles was too much. Naruto formed some seals and when he formed the final seal, he spoke again, "I have completed the seal for the A-rank technique 'Bleeding force' and is charged up for it's full potential. If hit directly, it can kill and in your weakened state, it will definitely kill you. I would urge you to forfeit the match, Lee."

Lee sighed, "I forfeit."

Naruto smiled and released the seals, sighing in relief. Hayate shook his head in disbelief as he surveyed the fighting grounds. This fight was the fight that caused the most damage. The walls had several cracks and holes and the floor has a large crater with another smaller crater. He knew that the Hokage was going to have to pay for the repairs. He raised his hand for the announcement.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Gai and their female team mate, Tenten are helping Lee get back to the upper-levels while Maki is just helping Naruto walk. Naruto could feel a hand on his shoulder and he looked at Maki.

"I am proud of you, Naruto," Maki said, "You were actually able to use the shadow clones in a smart way to deceive your opponenet."

Naruto grinned, "I learned from the best."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After an hour of waiting and watching the other matches end, the results are finally in on who will qualify for the third round of the Chuunin exams. The names are all written on the black screen. Naruto begin examining the names.

1. UchihaSasuke

2. Hyuuga Neji

3. Aburame Shino

4. Uzumaki Naruto

5. Sabaku No Gaara

6. Sabaku no Kankuro

7. Sabaku no Temari

8. Dosu

Naruto wondered now what they are going to do now that they have the names. The third round of the exam must be different compared to the other two. He hoped it was a battle royal where everyone would fight against one another with no allies. That would have been cool.

Also, Naruto wondered how Kiba was. Kiba had to fight the Sand ninja, Gaara and was wounded badly. Luckily for Kiba, the teacher of Gaara, the brown haired woman by the name of Himura seemed to be able to calm Gaara down. He feared Gaara, feeling his large killing intent and his thirst of blood.

"I hope you are ready for the third part of the exam." Maki said, standing next to Naruto.

"What are we supposed to do in the third part?"

Maki smirked, "You will find out soon enough."

Naruto can see that the Hokage had stepped forward, clearing his throat, "I congratulate you all that have passed the preliminary exams! And I will now, start to explain what is expected of you all in the third part of the exam." The Hokage announced.

Maki remembered how it was like when he qualified for the third part of the exam. He even remembered hoping to fight Kawada which he finally did. He had to beat a ninja from the Mist village, which he did easily before he faced the genius. He sighed at the memory but he decided to listen on what the Hokage has to say.

He also knew that Naruto has a month to train before the exams. He knew that Kakashi will train Sasuke and Maki should train Naruto. But he decided to help Naruto with a little extra help. That man is even more powerful than Maki himself.

'It has been a long time since I have seen that stupid pervert,' Maki thought, 'And if you think that concealing your chakra can hide from me, you're wrong!'

Maki had just felt his presence just now during Shikamaru's match. He has not seen his old friend for twelve years. The last time he saw him was at the hospital, when the fourth Hokage was expecting Naruto. It seems that he has finally returned to Konoha after twelve years. Maki smiled.


	23. An old friend

CHAPTER 23: AN OLD FRIEND

Everyone in the village of Konoha has gotten word that the second part of the exams for the Chuunin exam have ended. So, in precisely one month, the third part for the Chuunin exams will start at the great stadium and they have heard that out of the nine participants that qualified, five of them come from the leaf village. The villagers could not be more proud that the majority of the participants are the leaf ninjas.

What is even more exciting is that they have heard the last member of the Uchiha clan has qualified and will be participating in the third part of the exam. Although they don't know who he will be fighting, they hoped that he will be fighting against the Hyuuga prodigy, Hyuuga Neji. They know that Neji is a talented ninja and asking the two prodigy of the top clans to face against one another will be an exciting event.

In an apartment, the sound of an alarm can be heard ringing loudly. The boy sleeping in the apartment groaned and slammed the alarm shut in frustration. Naruto shot up in bed and yawned loudly. He looked outside his window and he can see the sun shining brightly above the Hokage monuments. That is a wonderful sight.

He got off his bed and started to start the day with a good shower. That would help rub off the sleep from his eyes. He grabbed an orange towel, his favourite colour, and made his way to the bathroom. He still has about an hour before he has to meet up with his pink haired teacher.

Maki had told Naruto to meet up with him at a ninja shop that has to be close to the hot springs. Naruto didn't know why Maki would choose a place so far from his house. However, he is in no position to go against him. Besides, Maki had said that it was to help him in training to prepare himself in the third part of the Chuunin exams.

He already knows that Sasuke will be trained personally by the copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi. It seems that Sasuke needs more training in his Sharing an so Kakashi has that duty. Sasuke is lucky that Konoha still has one ninja that still have the Sharingan or else Sasuke would have been lost, not having anyone to teach him his clan's secret technique.

'Damn it' Naruto cursed in his thoughts, 'I wanted to visit Sakura-Chan today in the hospital. I sure hope she is okay from the fight.'

Sakura is still in the hospital from yesterday's fight. Although her life is not in danger, her heart has been damaged quite bad due to Neji's attack and if Maki had not stopped the last attack, Sakura could have died. He could not even bare the thought of Sakura dying. He clenched his fists in anger.

He switched the shower on and felt the warm water splashing on his body. The feel of the warm water washing his body relaxed him as he begin to think about what the Hokage had said after he and the other Gennins qualified for the third part of the Chuunin exams.

Flashback

The Hokage had already congratulated them but it seems he still has more to say. The old man smiled, looking at the five leaf ninjas that qualified. He is quite surprised to say that the leaf ninjas that passed are mostly from the rookie's that just passed the academy this year. It seems that the rookie ninjas are much more talented than the other Gennins and the only experienced Gennin here is Hyuuga Neji.

"Now," The Hokage began, "I will tell you all that the third part of the exam is just like in the preliminaries. You will all be engaging an opponent in a one on one combat situation and like earlier, you win by either killing your opponent or when the referee sees fit to end the match."

The Hokage stopped for a while to light up his pipe, "However, the fight will be in the great stadium of Konoha and your fight will be watched by the citizens of Konoha and some of the feudal lords of the fire country. So, you will have to give it all you have to impress everyone."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, not liking the idea of being watched by people. His mother will most likely be there.

"And since the exam will be held in front of an audience, you all have a month to prepare yourselves."

"One month?" All the Gennins said together in shock, except for Gaara.

The Hokage nodded, inhaling the harmful pipe, "The reason for this is for you to prepare yourselves for the match. You can take the time to train, relax and find out more about your opponent's abilities and weaknesses, although that will require some spying since asking the Jounin instructors will be pointless as they will not reveal to you anything."

"So we are free to do whatever we want for one month?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage nodded, "Yes, and I would advise you to prepare yourselves for it."

The sand ninja, Kankuro, raised his hand, "I have a question."

The Hokage turned to face him, "What is it?"

"How will our opponents be picked?" He asked, "Will it be like in the preliminaries? A black screen randomly picking out the names?"

"Yes and No."

"What?" Kankuro was clearly confused.

"Old man, what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked, his arm raised.

The Hokage had a vein popped on his forehead and turned to face the pink haired Jounin. Maki cursed inside his head for Naruto calling the Hokage an old man in front of everyone.

"What I mean is," The Hokage begin to explain, "Is that your opponents will be picked out by random but not by a computer screen."

"Then how?" Shikamaru asked, hoping that the Hokage will just give a straight answer.

The Hokage did not answer. Instead, he stepped aside to reveal the sadistic purple haired Jounin. All of the Gennin recognised her as the invigilator for the second test. Anko is carrying a box and walked to the Sound Gennin.

"This is how we will decided your matches." The Hokage stated, "There is a number in the box and each and everyone of you must take one number."

The Sound Gennin took out a number and told his number to Anko. She continued doing this, stopping in front of a Gennin, let them take a number and then writing down their number. After all eight of the Gennin are done, she stepped back in line with the other Jounins.

"Are you done, Ibiki?" The Hokage asked without turning to face the elite Jounin.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Alright," The Hokage took out his pipe, "I will now reveal to you all who your opponents are for the final exam!"

Ibiki gave the Hokage a clipboard. The Hokage cleared his throat, "Now listen carefully. I will not be repeating this so remember who your opponents are." The Hokage looked at the names and begin reading them aloud, "The first match is Uzumaki Naruto Vs Hyuuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke Vs Aburame Shino, Sabaku no Kankuro Vs Sabaku no Temari, Nara Shikamaru Vs Sabaku no Gaara."

Everyone begin looking at each other. Naruto glared at Hyuuga with angry eyes and knowing that this is the perfect opportunity to seek vengeance for his beloved Sakura. Neji also returned the glare as the two eyes lock on. Everyone can also feel the tension between the two and they know that their match will be worth watching.

Although Shino has no expression, he is excited to be facing against the Uchiha prodigy. He has already seen the young Uchiha fight earlier without using his clan's power and defeated that ninja with only sheer Taijutsu. It looks like Shino will have to train his bug skills more since even if he was able to drain all of Sasuke's chakra, Sasuke can still beat him with just his hands.

The three Sand ninjas have no reactions. The only thing they feared fighting would be Gaara, even though Kankurou and Temari are older than him, Gaara is something that you do not want to face in the battlefield.

Shikamaru was busy looking at Gaara. He has already seen how Gaara easily defeated Kiba in the fight earlier. It seems that Gaara is nearly invincible with his sand always protecting him and it looks like the only way Shikamaru is going to win in this fight is by his brains. He will have to do a lot of research on Gaara and also try to think up of many strategies in his fight.

"Hei," The Sound Ninja voiced out, "How come I don't have any matches?"

"Ah yes," The Hokage looked at the clipboard again, "It seems you got the number where you fight the winner of the match between Gaara and Shikamaru."

Dosu looked at Gaara with narrowed eyes but Gaara ignored him. Kankurou can tell that Gaara was not interested in him and has his sights on Shikamaru. Kankurou can tell that by his match earlier just now, even though Shikamaru is weak in physical combat, his mind is not. It seems that the brain of the shadow ninja is how he wins in his fight's and that will be something hard to beat. It looks like Gaara found an interesting opponent.

"Before you go," The Hokage said, catching everyone's attention, "I will tell you all now that in order for you to become a Chuunin, you have to impress the feudal lords and me by showing us that you have got what it takes to be a Chuunin. That is done by thinking like one and fighting like one."

"So does this mean that even if we win all of our matches, there is a chance that we won't be qualified to be a Chuunin?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage nodded, "Even the opposite can happen. Even if you lost in your match, you can still be a Chuunin by the reasons I have just stated."

Everyone of the Gennins begin murmuring, thinking on what the Hokage had just said.

"Alright! You have one month until the finals for the Chuunin exams! You can leave now…" The Hokage barked and with that, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Gennin walked back to their respective Jounin instructors while Naruto, the only student left of team seven walked alone to his teacher. Maki welcomed his student.

"How is Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked the moment he reached Maki.

"She's in the hospital right now," Maki answered, "She'll be okay. For now, we need to concentrate on what to do for your one month's preparation for training."

"What is there to concentrate? Just teach me some cool Wind techniques and give me battle advises and I'll be okay."

Maki shook his head, "Not this time. You are facing the Hyuuga prodigy and also, Sasuke is already being trained by Kakashi personally in the arts of the Sharingan. Since Sasuke will have special training, I think I can give you some special training too."

"You're going to teach me something cool?" Naruto asked, excited.

"Not me," Maki said, "An old friend of mine. Just meet me at the ninja weapon's shop next to the hot springs at eight in the morning tomorrow."

With that, Maki grabbed Naruto by the sleeve and the two disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared right in front of Naruto's apartment. Naruto was surprised and was about to say something when Maki again disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto grumbled and went into his apartment.

End of Flashback

Naruto walked out of the shower, refreshed and clean. He dried himself and walked into his room. He looked at his alarm clock and it is already seven thirty in the morning. He never realised he spent such a long time in the shower.

'I guess thinking back on what the old man said sure took a lot of time.' Naruto thought as he dropped the towel on the floor.

He opened the drawer and decided to pick his outfit. He decided that since he will be training today, he will wear a black tank top and some shorts. He remembered that Maki said that he and an old friend of his will be training him. Naruto wondered who that guy might be. It must be a strong guy since he did say that it would not be fair that Sasuke got specialised training and he didn't.

When he was done, Naruto jumped out of his apartment by the window. He decided to skip breakfast since he felt full, which was kind of strange since he did not eat a heavy dinner last night. Naruto shrugged it off and continued to make his way to the ninja shop. Since the shop is quite far, it took some time for Naruto to reach there.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto finally reached his destination to find that his pink haired teacher was already there waiting for him. Maki seemed surprise that Naruto was there.

"Hei, Naruto!" Maki said, waving, "You sure came here early."

"I decided to head out early since I live so far away," Naruto answered, "So what are we going to do for training?"

"Not yet, Naruto," Maki said, calming the excited blonde, "We have to meet my old friend first and I haven't really told him that he will be training you."

"Then why didn't you just tell him?"

"That's because I am just meeting him today," Maki said, looking left and right, "I have not seen him for twelve years!"

Naruto's jaw dropped, "You did not see him for twelve years and then the first thing you do when you meet him is ask him to train me?"

Maki nodded, walking to the hot springs, still looking left and right, "Yeah, trust me, when he finds out who you are, he will be glad to train you."

"Fine," Naruto joined his teacher, "What does he look like?"

Maki walks to the fence that blocks the women's bath area, "He has long white hair and is wearing a green outfit with a red vest. He has this two red make-up below his eyes and he is carrying a large scroll behind his back."

Naruto nodded and the two begin their search. Naruto wondered why Maki would insist on finding this man. Could he be actually so strong that he can be a specialised teacher for Naruto? And why would he want to train Naruto if he finds out who he is. Naruto was also wondering why they would search at the area of the hot springs, particularly around the women's area.

"Oh, I just remembered," Maki said suddenly, "That guy just will be probably spying on the women bathing here with a telescope."

"You mean like that?" Naruto asked, pointing at something on a tree.

Maki turned to see what Naruto was pointing at and Maki saw what it was. It is his old friend, sitting on the tree branch and spying shamelessly on the girls bathing here. He was busy writing something and also giggling madly like a school girl.

"Hei, perverted bastard!" Maki said loudly, catching the white haired man's attention.

The white haired man saw Maki and quickly formed seals and a large puff of smoke was created. A frog emerged and the white haired man was sitting on it. Maki's eyes widen and quickly formed a simple seal as the frog's tongue attacked Maki. The tongue caught Maki and slammed Maki hard on the ground. Then, Maki suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to everyone's surprise.

"Damn it, Jiraiya-sama, is that how you treat an old friend?" Maki said, who was sitting on a fence.

"Oh?" The white haired man, known as Jiraiya looked at Maki, impressed, "It looks like you have increased in the speed of creating shadow clones."

Maki was about to answer when he could feel a rock hitting the back of his head, causing him to fall on the ground and he could hear the women on the other side screaming 'pervert.'

"Hei, who the heck are you?!" Naruto asked loudly.

The white haired man had a huge grin on his face and got into a dramatic pose, "I am glad you asked! Mount Myobakuzan's holy master Sannin, also known as the Toad Sannin!"

"You're a… Toad Sannin?" Naruto asked, not really understanding what it is, "What the heck is a Toad Sannin?"

"He is a person that is able to summon toads into battle and his abilities are mostly related to the toads." Maki answered, standing next to Naruto.

"Wait, he is the guy that you said is going to help me in my training?"

Maki nodded. However, Jiraiya did not look amused, "What the hell, Maki? I just came back to Konoha after twelve years and you immediately ask me to train a brat?"

Before Naruto could protest, Maki walked to Jiraiya, whispered something to his ear. Whatever Maki said, Jiraiya's eyes widen and he looked at Naruto. Jiraiya nodded his head, rubbing his chin.

"The resemblance is there." He said softly.

"So, what do you say?" Maki asked, nudging the perverted old man.

"Alright," Jiraiya answered after a few seconds of thinking, "What kind of training do you have in mind?"

"Well," Maki rubbed his chin, "I decided that he needs more training in his chakra control and he should be able to improve faster if he trains by walking on water. Besides, it is about time he learn that."

Jiraiya nodded, looking at Naruto, "Perhaps I can convince him to also sign a contract with the toads."

"He's too young, don't you think?" Maki asked.

"But he has the chakra required. The only reason why the young one's are not taught is because of their lack of chakra." Jiraiya explained.

"Fine, but first thing's first, we have to train him in the water walking exercise."

Jiraiya smirked, "And I know just the place."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In a room, several ninjas are gathered inside. One of them is an adult while the other three are children. The adult, a woman, is busy reading a scroll that she just received from her comrades back at her home village. She was expecting the scroll and she will have to destroy it after she had read it to make sure that no one else gets to read it.

"It looks like everything is going as planned." The woman said, closing the scroll and forming a seal. The scroll then burst into flames.

"So, what's the plan, Himura-sensei?" The blonde girl asked.

The brown haired woman turned to face her three students, "No changes so far. The leaf suspects nothing although the appearance of that snake Sannin in the forest of death will put them in high alert."

"So now what?" The boy with purple make-up asked, covering his puppet in bandages.

"For now," Himura said, sighing, "We will just have to act normal. You guys can still train for the upcoming exams and gather information on your opponents, although Temari and Kankuro won't really have to do that since you guys are facing each other."

"That really sucked," Temari commented, "I really wanted to crush a few leaf ninjas."

"Don't be so confident," Kankuro warned, "Some of them are quite strong like that Neji guy."

Himura put her attention on her red haired student, "Gaara, I don't really need to tell you this but try not to kill anyone in this one month period, okay?"

Gaara was emotionless, not responing. Out of all the ninjas that he has faced, Himura is the one person that he did not fight back. Not because he feared her but because he respected her. She is the only person in the whole Sand village that seems to understand the pain of loss and she was there for him after Gaara had killed his own uncle whom was ordered to kill Gaara on the orders of his own father.

"I will see what these pathetic leaf ninjas have to offer." Gaara said coldly, walking out of the inn.

All three Sand ninjas watched Gaara close the door. The two siblings know that Gaara can kill if he wants to but since Himura told him not to do so, he won't. Everyone in the Sand village never knows how Himura can control him like that.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few kilometres away from Konoha, three ninjas are training. Well, at least they are going to train one of them. Out of the three, two of them are adults, one with long pink hair and the other with extremely long white hair. The third member of the party is a twelve year old blonde with spiky hair.

Naruto wondered why they had to walk all the way here just to train. However, Naruto observed that Maki was respectful to the white haired man. Could that just be showing that the white haired man, known as Jiraiya, is as strong as Maki had told him. Naruto just waited for the adults to stop whatever they are talking about, wondering what he is going to be trained at.

"Alright," Maki said, "We are going to teach you how to walk on water."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, "I can finally walk on water, just like how you did when we fought you in the test."

"Yeah, whatever," Maki said quickly, "Now pay attention."

Naruto shut his mouth as the pink haired Jounin cleared his throat, "Now, when you did the tree walking exericise, you just had to release at a certain amount of chakra, right?"

Naruto nodded. Maki then continued, "Now, when you have to walk on water, you also release chakra but you have to release at the right amount to make you float. Also, unlike tree walking, water can always change so you have to always change the amount of chakra you release to your feet to let you float. So this exercise will be very good for your chakra control training."

Naruto shut his mouth as the pink haired Jounin cleared his throat, "Now, when you did the tree walking exericise, you just had to release at a certain amount of chakra, right?"

Naruto nodded. Maki then continued, "Now, when you have to walk on water, you also release chakra but you have to release at the right amount to make you float. Also, unlike tree walking, water can always change so you have to always change the amount of chakra you release to your feet to let you float. So this exercise will be very good for your chakra control training."

Naruto listened and started to think of what his teacher said. After several seconds of thinking, he started to gather chakra to his feet and then he set foot on the river. At first, Naruto seemed to have succeeded when he suddenly lost control and dropped into the water.

He emerged out of the river gasping for air, "I never knew it was this hard."

"Try again, Naruto!" Maki ordered which Naruto obeyed, gathering chakra to his feet.

"He sure has a lot of determination." Jiraiya commented, watching Naruto drop into the river again.

"I know. That's what I like about him. I guess he got that from his father." Maki said softly, making sure that Naruto did not hear him.

Jiraiya chuckled, "I guess you're right. I remember training Minato and his stubbornness and determination is something that I have always been impressed about."

The two ninjas then told Naruto to repeat the exercise again. Naruto was careful as he took his first step and when he took his second step, dropped into the cold river again.

Jiraiya had been observing carefully as Naruto failed the third time and then the frouth time, each time Maki ordering Naruto to do it all over again. Jiraiya observed that Naruto seem to be able to actually do it at first when he suddenly lost control.

"What have you got, Jiraiya-sama?" Maki asked, looking at the toad Sannin.

"This is just a guess," Jiraiya said, "But I think the fox seal on Naruto is holding Naruto back. I'm sure you realised that Naruto seemed to be able to actually float on his first step and after that, he would lose control on his chakra."

Maki nodded, "I realised that but how could the fox's seal be affecting Naruto like this?"

Jiraiya did not answer. He watched Naruto swimming back to shore, panting.

"Hei, kid," Jiraiya called, "Can you come here for a second?"

Naruto grumbled under his breath as he approached the white haired Sannin. Jiraiya then ordered Naruto to try and gather chakra again which Naruto did. Then, the two experienced ninjas can see the seal appearing. Jiraiya then bent down and started inspecting the seal. After all, Jiraiya is quite good in seals and Maki was thankful that Jiraiya is here. Maki had always hated seals.

'It looks like the seal that the fourth used is a little too strong,' Jiraiya thought, touching the seal, 'And that is why Naruto's chakra control is quite poor. It looks like I will have to unseal one level so that Naruto can control his chakra better.'

Maki can see that Jiraiya is deep in thought and he knew that whatever the seal that the fourth placed on Naruto must be quite a complicated one to even take one of the great Sannin's some time to figure it out.

"Alright kid," Jiraiya said, getting back up to his feet, "I think I have found a solution to your problem."

"You did?" Naruto questioned.

Jiraiya simply smiled as he hid his right hand behind his back. Maki can see that each of Jiraiya's fingertips are blue in colour which means that Jiraiya is going to unseal something. Jiraiya ordered Naruto to raise his hands high and then without a moment of hesitation, Jiraiya attacked Naruto's seal with his right hand, his blue fingertips touching the seal.

Naruto fell on all fours, clutching his stomach. Naruto could feel like he was punched hard and all his air was taken away from him. He was about to yell at the perverted old man when he somehow felt more… relaxed. Naruto looked up and he can see that the white haired man and Maki are looking at him.

"What did you do to me?" Naruto asked, still clutching his stomach.

"I just relaxed a muscle. Try your water walk again." Jiraiya said, his arms crossed on his chest with a proud expression on his face.

Naruto did not know what was going on but he decided to follow the old man's orders anyway. He gathered chakra to his feet and took a step on the water. So far so good and he took his second step. He was still on the water and then took a few more steps. He was really walking on water!

"I did it!" Naruto yelled excitedly, "I actually did it!"

Jiraiya smirked, watching the twelve year old blonde celebrate his success on the water walk exercise. 'I guess I still have the touch of a teacher.' Jiraiya thought.

"I sure am lucky that you were here, Jiraiya-sama. If not, I would never have realised about that seal trapping Naruto's chakra."

Jiraiya got into a dramatic pose again, "Of course! I am not the great toad Sannin for nothing, you know?" Jiraiya then started laughing like a maniac.

"Okay Naruto, I want you to continue on your water walking exercise for your chakra control training."

"Roger that!" Naruto said, saluting Maki and then just walking around on the river as if he was walking on the ground.

Jiraiya and Maki sat below a tree, watching the blonde walk on the water. Well, at least Maki was watching Naruto while Jiraiya was busy peeking on a group of girls in their bikini's playing under the waterfall. He was giggling madly and had a drool on his mouth. His face was so red that Maki thought that all his blood had travelled to his face. Maki sighed. His old friend still has not changed after all these years.

"You know," Jiraiya said, still peeking at the girls, "I am still waiting for your answer regarding the contract."

Maki sighed, "I already told you, Jiraiya-sama, that I do not want to sign any contract with the toads."

"Why not?" Jiraiya asked, looking at the pink haired Jounin, "You have the right amount of chakra to even summon the toad boss. It's not everyone I approach this offer, you know?"

Maki rubbed his head, "I know and I am honoured that you would pick me, but you have Naruto there. I find it interesting that a father and son will sign the same contract for their summon choice."

Jiraiya picked his large scroll and opened it, "I will approach Naruto with the offer tomorrow but I also approached you because I need someone that I can trust to have a contract with the toads also so that I can communicate from afar. Like when I have to leave Konoha again, I at least still have someone to send the information to."

"I will think about it," Maki replied, looking at Naruto, "But you can always ask Kakashi."

"Kakashi has already signed the contracts with the dogs," Jiraiya remarked, "I need someone that is as strong as him with no contracts yet."

"Tell you what," Maki said, looking at the names on the scroll, "If Naruto decides to sign the contract with the toads, I will too."

Jiraiya grinned, "You really like Naruto, don't you?"

Maki nodded, "Because I see the fourth in him. He has the potential to be like his father. And also because my niece has taken a liking to him, and so does he. If he plans to one day marry her, at least I don't have to worry about my niece's future."

Jiraiya laughed, "You have already thought so far ahead?"

The two shared a laugh. Naruto looked at them and wondered what they were laughing about. Naruto shrugged and continued walking on the water, his chakra getting lower and lower. Naruto started to think about a certain pink haired girl, hoping that she is alright. He was determined in this training to beat up that arrogant Hyuuga to make sure to never mess with him. Naruto clenched his fist, unable to wait for his fight with him.

Jiraiya turned serious, "After tomorrow's training with Naruto, I need to talk to you and Kakashi. Alone."

Maki also had a serious expression on his face, "Is it regarding about the message you sent us? The message that your toad delivered?"

Jiraiya nodded, closing his large scroll and placing it on his back, "It is something that I prefer the Hokage not to know. He has enough problems in the village as it is."

"Where do we meet?"

"On the Hokage's monument." Jiraiya answered.

The two were silent after that. Maki remembered the message that Jiraiya delivered to the Hokage. The Hokage then called every Jounin to an emergency meeting. It seems that Jiraiya followed Orochimaru after his defection and Jiraiya said that Orochimaru might be joining a group of ninjas that can be considered a dangerous threat to not only Konoha but also the other five great nations.

After sitting there for hours, the sun begin to set and Naruto was exhausted, his chakra level so low for the first time even with the help from the Kyuubi. It seems that he is really spent. When they reached the gates of Konoha, they parted ways but Jiraiya did tell them to meet him at the same place for training.

"And Naruto?" Jiraiya said before he went on a different direction.

"Yeah?"

"I am going to teach you something awesome for tomorrow's training." Jiraiya said, winking.

"WHAT IS IT???"

Jiraiya chuckled, rubbing the blonde's head, "Let's just say that it has something to do with summoning."

With that, Jiraiya left and Maki realised that the direction he is taking is to the hot springs. It seems that he is about to do more research and Maki did not want to know. Jiraiya was lucky that Maki did not report this to the Hokage since what Jiraiya is doing is a crime.

"Hei, Maki-sensei?" Naruto said, catching the pink haired Jounin by surprise.

"What is it?"

"You think we can visit Sakura-Chan for a while?" He asked although he knew the answer.

"Nope," Maki answered, "Because visiting hours are over. And besides, she needs to rest. You can visit her tomorrow."

Naruto sighed as they made their way for his apartment. Maki decided to accompany the tired blonde since Naruto could be attacked by villagers. He normally wouldn't accompany him but since Naruto is tired, Naruto won't have any energy to defend himself and with the presence of a ninja that the villagers know should scare them off.

Even though Naruto has become a ninja, not all of the villagers have stopped their abuse. Maki remembered that he got into a fight with a couple of villagers in a bar after they talked bad about Naruto. Maki was lucky that the incident never reached the ears of the Hokage or he would have been punished severely. Maki might love his village but he did not love all of the villagers since they did not respect the last wishes of the greatest Hokage, the fourth, which was to treat Naruto as a hero and not a demon.

After Naruto thanked Maki and went into his apartment, Maki made his way back to his house. He was tired even though he didn't really do much. So much is happening in just a few weeks. It seems that Orochimaru is planning something and now Jiraiya is back. And also, Himura is avoiding him. Maki sighed, not knowing what else to think.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In a secluded area of Konoha, a lone ninja was cursing loudly in his room as he tries to figure out the puzzle in front of him. Ever since he has met that ninja, he tried to copy his methods but failed miserably. He has already targeted the Uchiha as his new container and if he can somehow get the same technique as that 'Replicator' by creating shadow clones, he will be unstoppable.

The pink haired ninja is nothing to him. He can easily kill him if he wants to. He already knows how he creates shadow clones using the kunai but somehow creating the kunai to respond is even more difficult for even a genius such as himself.

Orochimaru tried it once more, putting some chakra into the kunai. He tossed the kunai to a wall.

"Release!"

The kunai did not respond. Orochimaru cursed loudly, shoving all the shuriken and kunai's on the table to the floor. He was a genius but how come he cannot figure this out? After all, if a mere Konoha Jounin can do it, how can he not? He is a Sannin for crying out loud!

There was a knock on the door of his room and it opened, revealing his most trusted accomplice. Kabuto.

"What do you want?" Orcohimaru asked coldly, clearly not in the mood.

"I came to check up on you. I heard you yelling and then kunai's dropping to the floor."

"There is nothing that you should be concerned about!" Orochimaru said angrily in a raspy voice.

Kabuto bowed and left the snake Sannin alone, not wanting to get on his bad side. Orochimaru looked at the kunai with his chakra on it. If he can easily find out how that pink haired ninja created the shadow clone from his kunai, why would it be so hard to figure a way to use this method? The thoughts frustrated him

'That's okay,' Orochimaru thought, calming himself down, 'After all, that is just one stupid technique. I will soon have a body that has the Sharingan in no time and also I know thousands of techniques!'

Orochimaru relaxed, deciding to stop pursuing that stupid technique that the pink haired ninja use. Although it is useful, it was not worth his time. Orochimaru looked outside the window at the great village of Konoha. He chuckled to himself as he pictured the village burn in a month's time. Soon, Konoha shall fall!


	24. The toad contract

**Hi guys, here is the update. I am getting closer to the invasion. I cant wait!**

**Oh, and just to note, some ppl are still confused about Naruto. For the last time, Naruto is no longer the dumb idiot. He is now quite smart and an equal to Sasuke, got it? good**

**Plz review**

CHAPTER 24: THE TOAD CONTRACT

In the village of Konoha in the early hours, when the sun had barely broken the horizon, a boy continues jumping from rooftop to rooftop to get to his destination as quickly as possible. Despite the darkness of the village, the boy can still see pretty well, never slipping off the roof that he jumps on. Also, as a trained ninja, he never left a sound when he jumped off the roof, never waking up the residents of the house.

The village already has banners getting set up in the village to prepare themselves for the Chuunin finals. The villagers now also know the matches between the Gennins since the ANBU has posted the list of matches on several notice board in the village.

None of the matches seem to be interesting to them. However, they still expect the match between the Hyuuga and Uchiha and since they doubt that the fox child can beat Neji, they only have to hope that Sasuke is able to beat Aburame Shino, the prodigy of that clan.

Naruto continued towards his destination. Although he is still early, he has to meet up with his pink haired teacher and that perverted old man by seven thirty today so he has only about fifteen minutes with her at the hospital. Naruto passed by a large clock in Konoha and it shows that it is already six fifty in the morning. Naruto quickly added a little more chakra to his feet to speed up.

After jumping across the village for six minutes, Naruto finally reached the hospital. However, visiting times are only allowed at nine so Naruto is going to have to sneak in through the window. Naruto quickly checked the windows. He remembered that Sakura's room number is twenty six, which is on the second floor. Since Naruto had constantly visited the hospital when he was a child, due to his beatings, he already know where the rooms are.

He ran to the other side of the hospital and found Sakura's window, room number twenty six. He applied chakra to his feet and climbed the hospital walls. Naruto was lucky that it was still early or else, people would have seen him climbing the wall and would have alerted the Hokage, much to Naruto's dislike.

It's not that he did not like the Hokage. After all, it was the Hokage that gave Naruto his apartment along with Maki, so how can he hate a person that has helped him? The Hokage is also one of first person to befriend him. And it is also because of the Hokage that inspired Naruto to want to become like him, to have the position of the Hokage and gain the respect of the villagers.

Naruto finally reached the window and he peeked inside. Even though the room is quite dark, Naruto can see that Sakura is asleep on her bed. She had a few wires connected to her body with those machines keeping track of her heartbeat. Naruto looked at Sakura. She looked so peaceful and she was still beautiful to his eyes, like that of an angel.

Naruto can see that someone is sitting on a chair next to Sakura's bed. Naruto realised that it was Maki and he seemed to be asleep. It seems that Maki have stayed the night at the hospital. Naruto slowly opened the window and stepped in. The room was darker than Naruto thought but thanks to the heightened senses the Kyuubi gave him, Naruto can see quite well in the dark.

Naruto stood next to Sakura. She looked okay and she looked like she could actually be discharged tomorrow. However, Naruto remembered that her injuries are not on the outside but on the inside. According to what Maki had told him, Sakura suffered damages to the heart and liver. She will be okay but she will need about two weeks of rest to heal up.

Unlike the outside of the body, you cannot train your inner organs and that will be a weakness to everyone. Naruto knew that Neji will be a difficult person to beat since he cannot train his inner organs, which will be Neji's prime target during his match with him. Naruto realised that he will need to train extra hard and he hoped that today's training will really help.

Naruto looked at Maki and he can see that he was snoring a little. He has arms folded on his chest and his head facing down, asleep. Naruto snickered, deciding to play a small trick on his teacher. Naruto walked to Maki as quiet as possible, making sure not to make a single sound. When Naruto was standing right in front of Maki, between Sakura's bed and Maki, he put his plan into action.

Naruto quickly attacked Maki's pants, pulling his pants down. However, the moment he touched Maki, Maki suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto eyes widen as he realised what had just happened. 'What the hell? A shadow clone?' Naruto thought.

Right after the clone dispelled, the door of Sakura's room burst open to reveal the real Maki with a kunai in his hand. Maki switched on the lights and the sight that greeted him surprised him. Naruto had a dumbfounded look on his face. Maki looked at Sakura and she was still resting peacefully. Maki then put his attention to his blonde haired student.

"Naruto!" Maki said roughly, "What the hell are you doing here? And at this time of the hour?"

"I wanted to visit Sakura-Chan," Naruto said, "I didn't expect you to be here."

"I'm her uncle," Maki replied, walking towards Naruto, "Of course I'll be here."

"A very protective uncle." Naruto added.

"You got that right," Maki agreed, standing next to Naruto and looking at Sakura, "But why are you here so early?"

"I can't wait to see her since I didn't see her yesterday." Naruto explained, scratching the back of his head.

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed a little too loud.

"Not so loud!" Maki scolded.

Naruto apologised, "But I really wanted to see her." Naruto then looked at Maki, "Why the hell did you put a shadow clone to guard her anyway?"

Maki grinned sheepishly, "I was tired last night but I still wanted to be with her. I tried to sleep but the chair was too uncomfortable so I decided to put a shadow clone here while I slept outside of the room. The bench outside is much more comfortable."

Naruto nodded and glanced back at Sakura. Maki observed Naruto and couldn't help but smile. It seems that Sakura will be in safe hands in the future. Naruto really loves her and Maki doubted that Sakura can never find another guy that can love her like Naruto. Maki sighed and walked to the door. He then leaned on the wall, waiting for Naruto to finish his visit. He remembered that he promised Naruto that he will have training with Jiraiya in precisely twenty minutes from now.

'I wonder if I really should sign the contract?' Maki thought, 'Having summons will be useful in my fights. And I can help Jiraiya-sama in communication. Then again, Naruto is going to be signing with Jiraiya-sama so he doesn't really need me.'

Maki decided to give Naruto one more minute before he will have to drag Naruto out of Sakura's room. He started to think about Himura. He realised that Himura has been avoiding him lately. The last good conversation he had with her was during the second day of the forest of death exam, where he actually kissed her. Maki began to wonder if maybe that kiss was the reason why she is avoiding him.

"Alright Maki-sensei," Naruto called from Sakura's room, "We should get going to meet that perverted old man."

Maki nodded and the two ninjas walked out of the room. Maki led the way, walking to the ground floor of the hospital and then walking out of the hospital. Some of the nurses were surprised to see Naruto in the hospital since they never saw him come in. Luckily none of them asked. Maki also did not feel like explaining to them that Naruto actually sneaked in.

Once the two were out of the hospital, they jumped on a rooftop and started sprinting.

"Hei, Maki-sensei," Naruto called, jumping next to him, "How strong is this perverted Sannin?"

Maki chuckled, "That's a good name, perverted Sannin. As to how strong he is, he is probably three or four times stronger than me."

Naruto eyes widened in shock, "He is that strong?!"

Maki nodded, "Oh yes. That is to be expected since he was the student of the third."

"The third's student?" Naruto questioned, "Who are his team mates?"

"The other two have left the village. One of them is a missing-nin while the other… let's just say that Konoha brings a lot of bad memories for her."

Naruto was silent for a while when a question popped up in his head, "Speaking of leaving, how come you have not seen perverted Sannin for twelve years?"

"He's a spy," Maki answered, "A spy for Konoha. He travels the world to gather information about other village's, especially the village of the Rock since we are still on bad terms with them."

Naruto was impressed, "So he gets to travel the world? That's cool!"

Maki nodded, jumping off another rooftop, "Jiraiya-sama is indeed a strong and talented ninja. After all, he is the fourth's teacher…"

"Perverted Sannin is the fourth's teacher?? Cool! I am going to be like the fourth!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Maki smiled, "Perhaps he took you in because you have some characteristics to the fourth."

"What kind of characteristics?"

Maki shrugged, "I don't know. You can ask him once we reach the hot springs."

Naruto sweat dropped, "Is he that much of a pervert?"

Maki laughed, "You can say that. He actually even calls himself a 'super pervert.' He seems to be proud of that title as much as he is proud of the title as a 'Toad Sannin.'"

Naruto did not know what to think about his new teacher. But then again, he didn't really care since Maki had already told him that he is three times stronger than Maki. It means that Naruto will be strong in no time and he will definitely be ready to thrash Neji in the finals. Naruto's anger was boiling just thinking of that name.

The two ninjas are getting nearer to the hot springs. Although it is still early, the women of Konoha like to enjoy the hot springs early in the morning, which explains why Jiraiya would be here at this hour. The two ninjas reached the hot springs and began their search for the white haired ninja. He was not at the same spot as yesterday but they knew that he is definitely around the women's area.

Naruto was trying to find the perverted old man by looking at the trees, thinking that Jiraiya was on another tree branch today. However, he was wrong. Maki finally felt Jiraiya's presence and it was coming from a rooftop.

"Come on Naruto," Maki ordered, "I found him."

Naruto obeyed and followed his teacher. Maki and Naruto jumped up to a tree and then jumped to a rooftop, which was the same rooftop of the ninja shop they promised to meet at yesterday. They found Jiraiya squatting down with a telescope in his hands. He was giggling and writing down whatever that he saw on his notebook.

"Hei, Jiraiya-sama!" Maki called, startling the old man.

"Oh, Maki?" Jiraiya sounded surprise despite the promise that they will meet here at this time, "You are here early."

Maki's shoulders slumped, "Jiraiya-sama, we are actually on time."

"Is that so?" Jiraiya put his telescope into his pocket, "Alright then, I guess we should get going."

"Stupid perverted Sannin." Naruto said softly but Jiraiya heard that.

"What did you call me, brat?"

"I called you a perverted Sannin.." Naruto replied, louder this time.

Jiraiya was silent. Normally, when Maki called him 'perverted bastard,' Jiraiya would attack him, like yesterday. However, Jiraiya was not doing anything. He seem to be just looking at Naruto. Finally, Jiraiya simply shrugged and the three ninjas jumped off the building and head for the gates of Konoha.

The guards allowed them to pass since they already know that the 'Toad Sannin' will come back later anyway. They are going to the same place where they trained yesterday. The reason why Jiraiya chose that place is because it is peaceful and because young girls always play around that area, much to his delight.

"Maki," Jiraiya said, catching the pink haired Jounin's attention, "I heard that you actually met Orochimaru in the forest of death."

Maki was jumping next to Jiraiya while Naruto was behind them so he didn't hear them. Maki nodded. "What did he want?" Jiraiya asked.

"We are not sure on what his intentions are," Maki said, his voice serious, "But he warned us not to stop the Chuunin exams."

Jiraiya looked at Maki, "That is strange."

Maki nodded, "We do know however, that he seems to have an interest in the last Uchiha."

Jiraiya licked his lips, "It looks like Orochimaru has targeted his new container."

"Container?"

"I haven't reported this yet," Jiraiya said, turning his to look front, "But about three years ago, my network has discovered that Orochimaru has found a way to live an immortal life."

Maki had a shocked expression, "That's impossible."

Jiraiya sighed, closing his eyes, "It seems that Orochimaru needs to change bodies once every three years to be immortal. I'm not really sure how he do this but he transfers from his original body to a new body, where that body can keep him alive for three years before he has to look for a new body."

"So that is why he has an interest in the Uchiha." Maki said, "Orochimaru did once say that he wants Sasuke because of the Sharingan."

Jiraiya now looked even more serious, "This is bad. It seems that this technique that Orochimaru created not only helps to prolong his life, but he is able to gain access of the body's bloodline limit power, if that body has. In this case, Sasuke has the Sharingan and if Orochimaru gets it, he will be unstoppable."

They finally reached the training site and landed next to the river. "We are counting on you to find out more, Jiraiya-sama. Who knows what else that sadistic snake can be planning?" Maki stated and Jiraiya nodded. They had to stop their little chat now since they have to train Naruto now. Naruto was three seconds behind them and landed in front of them, panting a little.

"Damn it, why can't you guys slow down a little?" Naruto grumbled, looking at Maki and then at Jiraiya.

"I thought you have high amount of stamina?" Jiraiya asked, his hands crossed on his chest.

"Shut up!"

Jiraiya smirked, "Anyway, let's get straight to training. I have a lot of 'research' to do."

Maki rolled his eyes, "I don't know why you call it research when you're just being a pervert."

Jiraiya turned to look at Maki, "Hei, my 'research' helps me to get inspiration for my latest novel. After all, my books are getting quite popular you know."

"Yeah, you're biggest fan being Kakashi." Maki said, his voice sarcastic.

"Oh?" Jiraiya had a huge smile on his face, "So Kakashi likes my book? I definitely have to sign his book later for being such a loyal fan."

Naruto was getting angry for wasting time and he stepped hard on Jiraiya's foot. Jiraiya however, did not yell in pain. He simply looked at Naruto and shrugged, much to Naruto's shock. Jiraiya then took his large scroll from his back and then held it vertically, holding one end of the scroll while the other end is on the ground.

"Alright Naruto," Jiraiya started, "Do you remember what I said I was going to teach you?"

Naruto begin to think and then he remembered, "You said you are going to teach me about summoning something."

Jiraiya nodded, a smile on his face, "That is correct. I am going to teach you how the summoning technique. This summoning technique is normally used by Jounin not because it is hard to learn but because it requires a lot of chakra."

Jiraiya paused for breath, and then continued, "But I am teaching you this because you have a large amount of chakra, which is rare since Gennins like you are not supposed to have this amount."

Naruto was beaming with pride, "That's because I am Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Konoha!"

Jiraiya smiled. The way Naruto said it was almost the same way his father said when he was training him. Naruto definitely have the same dream as his father but his hyper activeness must have come from his mother since Minato is a calm man. He find it strange that Minato, being such a calm guy, would marry a woman that was so… hyper. However, that was his choice.

"Then this technique will be useful for you, future Hokage." Jiraiya remarked, opening his scroll.

"Before you can learn this technique," Jiraiya explained, "You have to sign this contract with the toads."

"Why the toads?" Naruto asked.

"Because I am a Toad Sannin, you idiot!" Jiraiya scolded, a vein on his head. Sometimes Naruto can be an idiot.

"So once I sign this contract, I can summon toads to fight. Like the toad from yesterday?"

Jiraiya nodded, "That is why I said only people with large amount of chakra can use this technique. The more chakra you put into the technique, the larger and more powerful the toad is."

Naruto was now filled with excitement, "Okay, so how do I sign this thing?"

"You sign the contracts in blood," Jiraiya said, pointing at the names on the scroll, "These are all the names of the people that have signed the contract. There is my name," Jiraiya said, pointing at his name, "And after me, which was the last person to sign, the fourth Hokage."

Naruto looked at the fourth's name in awe, "Minato Namikaze. So he is the fourth Hokage…"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah, he signed the contract when he became a Jounin."

Naruto felt honoured that he will be signing the same summons contract with the fourth Hokage. Naruto felt even more honoured that his name is next to the fourth. Naruto bit his thumb until a small trickle of blood was made. Then, he began writing his name in his blood. When he was finally done, he got up and looked at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya nodded, "Well, you have signed the contract." Jiraiya turned to look at Maki, who was stepping further and further away, "Maki, what was your promise you made yesterday?"

Maki sighed and reluctantly walked back to stand next to Naruto. Naruto was wondering what Maki had promised when Maki suddenly got down and bit his thumb. He then began writing his name next to Naruto, his blood a little darker in colour then Naruto's.

Jiraiya was happy that he got two people to sign the contract with the toads. Gamabunta is going to be happy that he two more people have signed the contract. Jiraiya knew that he will be an honoured ninja of the toads since he has already convinced three people to sign the contract, which is a difficult thing to do since he has to first find the people that he thinks are worthy of the contract and then, convincing them to sign.

"How come you get to sign it too?" Naruto asked.

Maki shrugged, "Jiraiya-sama said it would be easier to send messages to Konoha since I have a contract with the toads too. It normally takes too long for a toad to travel all the way to Konoha but if I have a contract, I can just summon the toad messenger to collect whatever the message it was."

Naruto nodded, "I see." Naruto then beamed with excitement, "Cool! I and Maki-sensei are even closer than ever since we have the same summons contract."

Maki rubbed Naruto's head, messing up his hair, "Since when did I said you are not close. I have been your friend since you were five years old."

"That is true," Naruto agreed. Naruto then turned to face the perverted Sannin, "So what now? How do we summon the animals."

Jiraiya smirked and without saying anything, bit his thumb and started forming five seals. Jiraiya did it so fast that Naruto and Maki could not see the seals. After Jiraiya was done forming the seals required, he placed his hand, where he bit his thumb, to the ground.

"Summoning technique!"

The moment Jiraiya said that, a black sign was formed on the ground and then, a large puff of smoke was created. It took a few seconds before the smoke was gone and the two ninjas can see the Toad Sannin now standing on a large frog, about two times of Maki's size. Naruto recognised the frog from yesterday. Jiraiya was once again, in a dramatic pose.

"This is how you summon the toads! Remember that it was I, Jiraiya, the great Sannin of mount Myobakuzan that taught you this technique!"

Maki and Naruto just looked at Jiraiya. Jiraiya and the frog was still in a pose and after a few seconds of silence, Jiraiya finally snapped out of it, grinning madly. The frog looked at the two ninjas in front of it and it can tell that the two are summoners of the toads. It looks like Jiraiya had allowed them to sign the contract and Jiraiya has good judgement to see who should sign or not.

"So what are the seals, Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya closed the seal and strapped it to his back. He looked at Naruto and Maki and then showed them the five seals required to summon a toad into battle. It was quite easy to remember and Maki was the first to use the technique. He bit his other thumb and then started forming the seals. After that, he placed his hand on the floor.

"Summoning technique!"

Just like what they saw with Jiraiya, the ground underneath Maki's hand had a black sign and a large puff of smoke was created. Maki didn't use a lot of chakra and right now, he is standing on a toad that is similar in size as Jiraiya but this toad has two swords on it's back. Maki and Jiraiya looked at Naruto, gesturing to him to use the technique.

Naruto nodded and bit his same thumb but on a different area. Then, he formed the five seals, which he did quite fast. Then, he placed his hand on the ground. The black sign appeared and a puff of smoke was created. However, the smoke was not that big and the toad that appeared was about half of Jiraiya's height. The toad has two metal shields on it's hand.

"Looks like you summoned a toad that is used for defence." Jiraiya stated.

Naruto was the only person that is not standing on a toad. However, he used very little of his chakra and summoning a toad of this size already requires quite an amount of chakra.

"Now," Jiraiya started, "Remember what I said. The larger chakra you put into the technique, the stronger and larger the toads are."

"What's the point of summoning small ones?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya smiled, "That is a good question. The smaller toads are normally used for scouting, delivering messages or well, I guess to play with, I guess…"

"Jiraiya-sama," Maki voiced out, "What about that large toad the fourth summoned twelve years ago."

Jiraiya shuddered upon remembering that toad, "That is one of the strongest toads you can summon. He is the toad boss, Gamabunta and not even I can handle him."

"What do you mean, 'handle him?'" Naruto asked, curious.

"He is one of the toads that rarely listens to you," Jiraiya explained as he walked to a couple of bushes, "The only person Gamabunta ever listened and respected was the fourth."

Maki and Naruto listened in awe. Maki remembered the fourth summoning that large toad and fighting the Kyuubi with it. The toad was powerful and quite fast despite it's large size. Maki remembered when the toad tried to stab the Kyuubi with it's dagger but failed. For a summon to fight against the Kyuubi, this Gamabunta must indeed be powerful.

Jiraiya squatted down and pushed the leaves of the bushes away. Jiraiya immediately grinned from ear to ear, a blush forming on his face. He quickly took out his notebook and began writing down what he saw. Maki sighed. Jiraiya never changed.

"Hei, what about my training?" Naruto whined, not happy that the old man is returning back to his 'research.'

"Ask Maki to teach you." Jiraiya told Naruto without taking his eyes off the scene in front of him.

Maki still had a small trickle of blood flowing out of his thumb and decided to put it to good use. He formed the seals required for the new technique he learned and put about a quarter of his chakra in it, which was a very large amount in normal ninja standards. It is the same amount required to use his custom technique 'Fire Lance.'

"Summoning technique!"

Although Maki used a large amount of chakra, he wanted several average sized toads and not the large ones. He got his wish as four smokes were created and the four toads, around the same size that Naruto summoned, appeared. Maki looked at all four of them.

One of them had a small sword on it's back. Two other toads have shields and one of them has both a shield and a sword. Maki rallied them up and the toads looked at their summoner. They can tell that Maki was a new person to have signed the contract and it looks like they will have to spread the news to the other toads of Myobakuzan about this.

"Alright, listen up!" Maki said loudly, "I want all four of you to train Naruto over there," He pointed at Naruto, "In close-combat fights. He is already quite good in that field but I want you to improve his fighting skills. Understood?"

The toads nodded and turned to face the blonde haired ninja. Naruto was surprised that this will be his training but this will also be a good opportunity to see how strong these toads are in battle. He got into a defensive stance, a kunai in one hand. The first toad lunged at Naruto and Naruto's kunai met with the toads sword, the sound of metal against metal heard.

Maki sat next to Jiraiya, who was still taking down notes. Maki watched Naruto fight from here and he was doing quite well. The toads have good co-ordination and team work. The defence toads will always block all of Naruto's attack on the toads that attack him, giving Naruto a hard time to find an opening. Even if he wanted to defeat the defence toads, there are two of them and the other attacking toads will have an open target on Naruto. It looks like Naruto is going to have some trouble beating them.

"I heard you recently used your 'Fire Lance' on a Rock ninja." Jiraiya said, still taking down notes.

"Yeah," Maki said, thinking back about the fight with Dawari, "That Rock Jounin was a tough one."

Jiraiya smirked, "Must be. You rarely use that technique due to it's drawback."

"Unlike the Rasengan, mine requires seals and large amount of chakra. That is a huge drawback."

Jiraiya nodded, "But it is a powerful technique, burning the internal organs of the target. It is far more powerful than the 'gentle fist.'"

"That may be true," Maki said, "But know that Rasengan has not been mixed with it's nature affinity yet. Rasengan without being mixed yet is already powerful but if mixed with a nature affinity must be even more devastating."

Jiraiya sighed, "No one will ever complete that technique. Not even the fourth was able to do so."

Maki looked at Jiraiya, "The son seems to be a promise."

Jiraiya chuckled, "Maybe… I will see what the kid have in this one month's training and if he has what I am looking for, I might take him in as my apprentice."

"Trust me, you will want to take him," Maki stated, looking at Naruto fighting off the toads, "He has a talent in surprising people. He is the most unpredictable ninja I have ever met."

Jiraiya stopped writing his notes and looked at Maki, "Are you considering to teach him your secret techniques?"

Maki shrugged, "Maybe, when he is old enough. If he has the potential of the shadow clones, I will pass down my teachings of the kunai shadow clone technique."

"I am amazed that not even I can know how you create those techniques, and that's a lot coming from a Sannin like me." Jiraiya commented.

"I am honoured." Maki said.

The kunai shadow clone technique is indeed a difficult one to create. Maki had already started planning for this technique the day he passed the Gennin's exam and he finally discovered how to do so at the age of fifteen. It took him three years, researching and studying the arts of the shadow clone until he finally discovered the technique. And he did this because he was used to the shadow clone's technique.

Naruto finally beat the toads and Maki trained Naruto by teaching him several other Wind techniques while Jiraiya returned to his 'research.' After hours of hanging around the area, the trio decided to head back to Konoha. Naruto decided he is going to visit Sakura but Maki had to follow Jiraiya, saying that it was time he and Kakashi meet up.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three ninjas are now on the Hokage's monument, overlooking the great village of the leaf. The three ninjas are powerful but out of the three, one of them is on a completely different level than the other two combined. He is the 'Toad Sannin.'

Maki and Kakashi waited for whatever it was that Jiraiya wanted to say. This meeting was classified and not even the Hokage was informed about the return of one of his former students. Jiraiya is also well hidden that not even an ANBU ninja has spotted him. Jiraiya only allowed his trusted friends to know about his return, which are Maki and Kakashi.

This is the only time when Kakashi is not reading his perverted book, despite being a huge fan of it. He knows that whatever that Jiraiya had to say must be important. The reason why Jiraiya trusts Kakashi is that he is the fourth's pupil while he trusts Maki is because Maki befriended the Toad Sannin when he was a kid, saving Jiraiya once from a horde of angry women chasing him.

Jiraiya turned to look at the two ninjas standing behind him, "I have bad news."

"Is it regarding about Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked, his right eye dead serious.

"That is one thing, but what I have found out is far worse. It brings danger to the five great nations." Jiraiya stated, his arms crossed.

"What could be that dangerous?" Maki asked.

Jiraiya sighed, "As you all know, I have kept track of Orochimaru after he left Konoha. When I delivered that message five years ago to the Hokage, Orochimaru at that time was still a missing ninja and has not yet formed the Sound village. However, three months after I delivered to Konoha the message, Orochimaru joined an organization."

"An organization?" Maki and Kakashi asked at the same time.

Jiraiya nodded, looking at the village again, his back facing the two Jounins, "This organization is comprised of S-rank criminals, all missing ninjas."

Kakashi did not like the sound of that, "What is their purpose."

"I don't know," Jiraiya replied, "For now, the group are not doing anything big yet. The organization was originally made up of ten members but Orochimaru left about three years ago."

"That's a good thing, right?" Maki asked.

"It is and I am still keeping track of that organization." Jiraiya then turned serious, "However, the organization has been coming in to the village, gathering information on the nine legendary tailed beasts."

Maki and Kakashi are now getting the picture. If this was true, then the village of Konoha will be in danger since Konoha contains one of them.

"Are you sure that their target is Naruto?" Maki asked, his fists clenched.

Jiraiya shook his head, "I don't know. The group are very secretive and is difficult for my network to find out about them. However, I do know one thing. One of the ninjas in the organization, known as 'Akatsuki' have one of our missing nins. He is powerful, perhaps on the same level as me but even his power is not enough to compare to their leader."

The two Jounins were silent.

"Uchiha Itachi."

Maki and Kakashi's eyes widen in shock. If Itachi, the man that slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan is seen to be just a follower, how powerful is their leader? How can one person keep an entire group of S-rank criminals in order. This is definitely something that is serious.

"That is all I have to tell you." Jiraiya said and turned to look at Maki, "The Hokage made a good choice to put you in charge of Naruto but I will have to train him soon to prepare himself. We don't know of the Akatsuki's objectives yet but there is a high possibility that they are after Naruto."

Maki nodded, "I understand."

"The two of you should also improve yourselves. Just because you two are the top Jounins does not mean that you can slack off. I know Maki improved the speed of creating shadow clones but that will not be enough." Jiraiya said, chuckling.

Kakashi nodded, "Understood. I have been working on a new Sharingan."

The trio of ninja on the Hokage monument then left, not leaving any evidence that they were there. Now, with the information they know that this organization, 'Akatsuki' is after Naruto, they will have to prepare themselves. To protect Naruto is now considered to protect the village.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto is currently sitting on a chair, smiling at the pink haired beauty in front of him. She is eating her dinner, and is enjoying the blonde boy's company. They already talked about what Naruto did, which was training.

"So when can you be out?" Naruto asked, starting back a conversation.

Sakura shrugged, "The doctors said I should be okay in two weeks time."

"This is all Neji's fault!" Naruto said angrily, "I'm going to avenge you in the finals!"

Sakura sighed, "It's okay, Naruto. I am a ninja you know. I will be injured from time to time again."

Naruto sighed in defeat, "I guess you're right… But I'm still going to avenge you!"

"Just become a Chuunin will be good enough for me." Sakura said, smiling.

"I will," Naruto said, his voice filled with enthusiasm, "It will be a step forward to my dreams, which is becoming Hokage!"

"I know," Sakura said, "You have said that a million times."

Naruto chuckled. The two continued talking, unaware that a certain pink haired ninja was watching them from the window. When visiting time was finally over, Naruto ended the visit with a kiss, much to Maki's shock and Sakura's delight. Sure, Maki wanted them to be happy but he didn't want to see what they do. Maki sighed, leaving the hospital.

Maki was having troubled thoughts about what Jiraiya said. It seems that a group of S-rank criminals are after his favourite student and in his current state, he won't stand a chance against him. If all of the members are around Itachi's level, how can Maki beat them? Maki decided to head to the training grounds to improve himself, knowing he still has a chance to get up to Jiraiya's level if he trains everyday for the next five years.


	25. Using your inner power

**Hei guys, SO SORRY for the late update! I was tired from all the typing and decided to rest up. I really am sorry!**

**Anyways, here is the update and please review!**

CHAPTER 25: USING YOUR INNER POWER

Haruno Maki walked silently in the hallways as he passed by Sakura's room. His niece had jus got out of the hospital after two weeks of lying in bed and now, she is back home, much to Suyuki's relief. She had been so worried about her daughter that she insisted Maki to stay overnight in the hospital, watching over Sakura, which Maki of course, did not refuse since he sees Sakura as his own daughter.

Maki took one glance at the door of Sakura's room and then, walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. He has to meet up with the great pervert in an hour, and he will have to meet up with Naruto in precisely twenty minutes. The Chuunin exams is going to start in precisely fifteen more days, which is not much left to train Naruto.

He stripped himself and switched on the shower, feeling the warmth of the water splashing on his still restless knew that today's training must be even more secretive since it will be concerning about Naruto's biggest secret.

Flashback

Naruto was being watched by two senior ninjas as he fought against the toad summons. Naruto has improved tremendously in the Taijutsu field and his Wind techniques have improved immensely. It looks like Naruto is prepared to meet Neji head on for the finals and others that are going to face him.

Maki and Jiraiya sat under a tree and today, unluckily for the great Toad ninja and much to the gratitude of the pink haired ninja, there were no girls playing under the waterfall today so Jiraiya has no 'research' to do. So right now, Jiraiya is watching Naruto fight the toad summons.

"Naruto is getting better," Jiraiya observed, "He can actually fight all six of those toads now. He is almost a high rank Chuunin level now."

Maki was surprised by Jiraiya's statement, "High rank Chuunin? You can't be serious, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Are you worried that he will surpass you?" Jiraiya teased.

"Not really," Maki replied, "I would love nothing more than the future of Konoha ninjas to surpass the older generation but at that age?"

"What's so surprising? Kakashi was a Jounin at the age of thirteen." Jiraiya stated.

"I know," Maki replied, "But that was during the time of war, when everyone was desperate. Heck, even the Gennin exams were easier to pass."

"So are you saying that Kakashi got it easy for the Jounin exams?" Jiraiya asked.

Maki shrugged, "Something like that. But Naruto has improved so much just by training with the toads."

"Of course!" Jiraiya smiled, "He is being trained under the 'Toad Sannin' after all!"

Maki sweat dropped, "Yeah, for the past two weeks all you did was teach him the summoning technique. After that, I was the one that had to summon toads to train Naruto and teach him new Wind techniques."

Jiraiya rubbed his head, ashamed, "Sorry, but I was serious you know? That I will take him to train in a few month's time."

Maki nodded, looking at Naruto as he performed seals, "I know and I would like my student to be personally trained by a Sannin."

"Perhaps tomorrow we have to teach Naruto something that can be useful as a container."

Maki gasped softly, "You mean…?"

Jiraiya nodded, "We will teach him to use the inner power of the Kyuubi!"

The two superior ninjas of Naruto then remained silent, watching Naruto fight against the six toads. So far, the match still has no winner but they knew that thanks to Naruto's large amount of stamina and chakra, he will emerge victorious.

End of Flashback

Maki finished his morning shower and wrapped the towel around his waist. He then took the discarded shirt and boxers earlier and walked out of the toilet. Maki had to walk silently though, careful not to wake up the two females living in the house. Especially the adult one, not wanting to ruin her good sleep.

Since today is a Saturday, it is a routine that Maki brings his brother's family out to a restaurant to eat for dinner and since they still have enough food for lunch, Suyuki does not have to shop for groceries today, much to Maki's gratitude since he can keep his money today.

It was already seven in the morning and Maki realised that he took too much time in the shower. Walking as quietly as possible but also faster, he entered his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Maki proceeded to wear his usual attire which was a black shirt with his Jounin vest on it and then black pants. The black pants are the usual one's that most elite male Jounins wear, with the exception of the Taijutsu specialist of Konoha.

Maki packed five of his custom kunai's in his back pouch and decided to strap his shuriken holster to his left thigh, just in case he needs it. After all, he and the 'Toad Sannin' are going to train Naruto in using the power of the Kyuubi and who knows if it requires the two adult ninjas to defend themselves.

Luckily for Maki is that, if the worse case scenario should happen, which is Naruto being possessed by the Kyuubi, Jiraiya is a seal master and should be able to seal the Kyuubi back in. If not, then there is still one special ANBU ninja of Konoha that has the DNA of the first Hokage, which has the ability to suppress inner demons like Naruto, though it will be harder since Naruto has nothing in his possession for that ANBU ninja that links to the first Hokage.

'I wonder,' Maki thought, 'How Sasuke's training is doing. I have heard that Kakashi has took Sasuke out of the village for a month's training.'

Maki was grateful that Kakashi would take Sasuke to train personally since if he had to train the two of them in this one month, they will not be as ready since the other candidates are probably being trained personally. The only Jounin that has to train more than one student is Himura since all three of her students actually passed the preliminaries, which was impressive.

It was already seven fifteen and Maki has only fifteen minutes left now to meet Naruto at the main gates of Konoha. It would take about three quarters of an hour to get there if Maki walked but since he is a ninja, that is not necessary. He walked out of his house and started jumping from rooftops to rooftops, making sure not to put too much chakra to his feet or he just might create a small hole on the rooftops, which the people will complain and he will receive a long lecture by the Hokage, which he did not want at all.

Maki also started to think on how the training with Naruto is going to be since Naruto has not once, released the power of the Kyuubi, although Maki remembered there two occasions in which Naruto grew insanely strong for a short period of time. Perhaps that is how Naruto can trigger the Kyuubi's power, or chakra.

He finally reached the main gates ten minutes later and he found Naruto already waiting there, talking to his former student, Izumo. Maki landed right behind Naruto, startling the blonde boy.

"Maki-sensei!" Naruto said, his tone mixed with both surprise and anger, "You're late!"

"No," Maki disagreed, "It's not that I'm late, it's that you're early."

"Whatever!" Naruto huffed, "Come on, we have to meet with perverted Sannin now!"

Naruto walked out of the gigantic gates and the two Chuunin's sitting at the guard post looked at Maki. Maki had the look of 'you get used to it.' Maki then followed Naruto but turned to look at Izumo.

"You know," He said suddenly, "You should go out more on missions rather than just sit there bored."

"Understood, Sensei!" Izumo replied quickly.

Maki sighed, knowing that Izumo is not going to do so. He knew that Izumo is a talented ninja but is somewhat lazy ever since being friends with Koutetsu. He is almost like Asuma's student, Shikamaru, lazy and not wanting to be involved in something that can be troublesome but should the situation arise, Izumo can be a capable ninja to fight for his homeland.

Maki and Naruto are now currently jumping from tree branch to tree branch, trying to get to their training spot early today. Naruto wondered if the training is going to be the same today, fighting the toads and learning new Wind techniques. However, Maki saw through it.

"Don't worry," Maki said, catching the blonde boy's attention, "We are doing something different for today."

Naruto now had an excited look on his face, "Oh, what's the training about?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Naruto pouts, "Come on, you can tell me!"

"Come on," Maki voiced out Naruto's tone, "You can wait."

Naruto had a vein popped up on his head in anger, and the two continued on jumping in silence, much to Maki's joy. Naruto can be loud sometimes and although he has a kind heart and is well liked by people that overlook him being the jailor of the Kyuubi, Naruto can sometimes be annoying with his frequent outbursts. Luckily for Konoha, Naruto does not play pranks or else more people would have hated him.

Finally, they reached their destination and it was no surprise to them that they found the great 'Toad Sannin' squatting down and giggling madly to himself while he took down notes about his so called 'research.' Heck, he was so caught up on what he was doing that he did not sense the two ninja's arrival.

"Hei, perverted bastard!" Maki called.

Jiraiya immediately reacted and stopped what he was doing. He gave a death glare at Maki, much to Naruto's surprise since the old man did not give him the same kind of look when he called him a perverted Sannin. Perhaps because Maki called him a bastard while Naruto still called him a Sannin.

"Not so loud," Jiraiya warned, "The girls might hear you."

"With today's training, we are going to need your full attention, Jiraiya-sama." Maki said with a serious tone.

Jiraiya cocked his head and then, he remembered. He looked at Naruto and then back at Maki, "Right."

"So, what are we doing for today?" Naruto asked with excitement.

Jiraiya was silent as he walked to Naruto and Naruto had never seen the old man with such a serious expression. Normally when the three talked, Jiraiya would have a care-free attitude and would always tell them to hurry up so that he can go back to his perverted ways. However, today, Jiraiya seemed to be focus on Naruto's training.

"Alright, kid," Jiraiya started, getting down to Naruto's eye level, "I am going to ask you a question and I want you to answer them truthfully."

"Sure."

Jiraiya cleared his throat, "Tell me Naruto, do you know about the Kyuubi? And I mean, the truth about what really happened."

Naruto now had a sad expression on his face, not knowing what to say. It is because of the monster hidden in his body that people had hated him. If it was not for the old man Hokage and the encounter with Maki, Naruto had no doubt that he would still be chased by the villagers everyday.

Jiraiya saw the expression and sighed, "I'll take that as a yes."

"With respect, Jiraiya-sama," Maki interrupted, "This is still a touchy subject for Naruto. It would be best that we just go straight to the point."

Jiraiya nodded, "Alright Naruto, the next question, have you ever pulled out a different kind of chakra?"

"Different chakra?" Now Naruto was confused.

"Yeah, like a much more powerful chakra. It should be also different in colour from your regular chakra, and maybe red perhaps?"

Naruto begin to think. Jiraiya watched Naruto think and he knew that Naruto needed more help and he continued, "Maybe there was a time when you felt you became insanely strong for a moment?"

"There was one time," Maki recalled, "That Naruto became insanely powerful. It was maybe two month's ago or something, I don't remember but it was the day Naruto graduated from the academy."

Maki looked at Naruto as he told the story. Naruto now remembered it and he remembered now that he indeed felt powerful on that day, remembering what he almost did to his sensei. However, it was just a shadow clone.

"Go on." Jiraiya urged Maki to continue.

"Well, Naruto was furious that he not told about this secret and ran away. I searched for him by using the mass shadow clone technique and one of my clones found him on the Hokage monument. My clone could sense Naruto's anger and rise in chakra level. Naruto was almost around Kage level and when my clone told Naruto that he knew about the Kyuubi, Naruto charged at my clone with insane speed and punched my clone hard, dispelling it immediately."

Maki looked at Jiraiya, "That was the first time Naruto surprised me. He basically reached Kage level with that speed and the power in his punch. If it was the real me, I think he could have sent me to the hospital for a week from that punch."

Jiraiya had his open, "You're not exaggerating, are you?"

Maki shook his head and looked at Naruto while he talked to Jiraiya, "Naruto is already strong as he is. Like you said, Naruto is already at Chuunin level and if he can call out the Kyuubi's power again, he will be completely unstoppable."

"So how do I call the power out?" Naruto asked, unable to believe that his teacher had said he reached such a high level.

Maki was now speechless and finally said, "I don't know."

Naruto sweat dropped. Naruto then turned to look at Jiraiya, who was rubbing his chin, "Do you know how, perverted Sannin?"

Jiraiya ignored the comment, "From what Maki has just told me, you somehow call the Kyuubi's power when your emotions are hurt. However, there is perhaps another way."

"What?" Both Maki and Naruto asked in unison.

"We won't know until Naruto one day faces the situation but knowing the nine tailed fox, he knows that if Naruto dies, it will also die and he will not want that. I think that should Naruto face a situation where he is about to die, the Kyuubi just might lend Naruto some chakra and increase his powers." Jiraiya stated his theory.

"Well, we can't risk trying to kill Naruto." Maki said.

"No, we can't." Jiraiya then sighed, "I guess for now, the training for the Kyuubi's power will be put on hold." Jiraiya paused for a second, "However, perhaps Naruto can one day contact the Kyuubi and demand from it to lend Naruto some of it's chakra."

"So what are we going to do for training today?" Maki asked the Toad Sannin.

Jiraiya shrugged, "I really don't know. I have to leave Konoha for a few days to return to my spy network. I will return during the Chuunin exams."

"When are you leaving?" Maki asked, scratching his long pink hair.

Jiraiya tied the large scroll to his back and looked at Maki, "Right now."

The answer shocked both Maki and Naruto since they thought he was going to actually do some 'research' and leave tomorrow. But Maki knew that when Jiraiya is serious about a mission, this is the result.

"Maki," Jiraiya said with a serious tone, "Be careful these few days, alright? I have already heard from the old man that 'Long Orange' is in Konoha and that they are gathering information on you and Kakashi."

Maki chuckled, "Don't worry about me. We have you anyway should anything happen."

"It's not funny," Jiraiya said, and Maki swallowed hard, "Konoha is on the line here. Should he really make his move, I will need you and Kakashi to really take him down. If I go one on one with him, the most I can do is incapacitate him. You know that."

Maki nodded, "Don't worry, Jiraiya-sama. I'll send a messenger toad should anything happen."

Jiraiya smiled and jumped off into the woods, disappearing from sight. Maki begin to think about what Jiraiya had said. Isn't the Hokage there should Orochimaru attack Konoha. Surely the Hokage and Jiraiya together can take him out. Then again, the Hokage is old, and he is not as strong as he was. If the old man was in his thirties, he would probably wipe the floor with Orochimaru.

"Hei, Maki-sensei," Naruto said, startling the Jounin, "What the hell were you two talking about? Take who down?"

"Forget what we said," Maki said, hoping to change the subject, "Let's start with training for today."

"But I'm bored with fighting toads!" Naruto complained.

Maki sighed, knowing that he would not win in an argument with Naruto, "So what do you want to learn?"

Naruto begin to think about it and Maki enjoyed the silence. Having Naruto to not talk for a full five minutes is a rare occasion, rare as an eclipse. After another two minutes has passed, Naruto had a grin on his face and Maki could tell that whatever Naruto was going to ask is something probably crazy.

"I want a spar." Naruto simply said.

"Okay," Maki liked that idea, "Against who?"

Before Naruto answered, Maki begin to think that this was indeed crazy. How can Naruto spar against anyone since they are miles away from Konoha and calling someone to come over just to spar is crazy. That is when the realisation struck me. 'Don't tell me he's going to ask that, is he?' Maki thought.

"You!" Naruto answered.

Maki pinched the bridge of his nose, "Naruto, why would you want to fight me?"

"That's because I am ready to show the world that I, Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage can beat the hell out of 'The Replicator!'"

Maki sighed, "Naruto, you're still have a long way to go before you can beat me in a one of one fight."

"You're underestimating me, Maki-sensei," Naruto whined, "I'm not the same you know?"

"Fine, I guess I can tolerate a small match against you." Maki said, not wanting to have an argument he can't win.

"That's another thing!" Naruto suddenly said, pointing at Maki, "I want you to fight me with everything you've got!"

Maki could tell that Naruto is actually getting fired up for this and Maki is not going to get out of this. He sighs, "Give it all I've got?"

Naruto nodded, "I am going to beat you this time!"

"Alright," Maki took out his custom kunai with a bored look, "Just don't bore me, alright?"

That infuriated Naruto as he threw several shurikens and kunai at Naruto. Maki easily avoided them and had to jump out of his spot from the second wave that Naruto threw. Maki is now standing on the water.

"I never said start." Maki stated, his hands on his hips.

Naruto ignored the comment and formed his cross seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Several puff of smoke were created and four Naruto's appeared. Maki scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to attack his student without really injuring him. With Naruto, this can be difficult since Naruto has a high amount of stamina and subduing him will be a difficult task. However, Maki was pulled out of his thoughts as the four clones of Naruto charged forward while the real one stayed back, most likely wanting to gather experience on Maki.

Maki jumped high in to the air and started forming seals.

"Fire release! Ring destruction technique!"

Maki blew out a small amount of fire and Naruto was surprised that he blew it on the water, right in front of the four charging Naruto's. The fire was not put out however, and the small flame actually started to grow in length, and Naruto realised that the fire had formed a circle around the clones. The fire then grew in length, and now the circle of fire has surrounded the clones. Then, the circle of fire suddenly moved to the centre, where the clones are and burnt the clones, dispelling them.

Maki smiled as he lands on the other side of the river. This fire technique is quite hard to learn due to it's number of seals, which were nine when normal fire techniques are just about five to six. This fire technique is good to trap enemies and burn them to death since they have no where to escape.

Naruto clenched his fist and ran to Maki, crossing the river and producing about three more clones. The clones reached Maki and Maki fought them, dispelling them with his kunai while the last clone, he just threw it to a tree, dispelling it. However, Maki could tell that Naruto has improved a lot in the Taijutsu field, giving Maki a little bit of difficulty in fighting the clones.

"Wind release! Wind barrier technique!"

Maki recognised the technique as a large amount of air was pushed out of Naruto and coming right at Maki. This technique is not very devastating but allows the user to create an oppening on his enemies and also this technique covers a large area. Maki braced himself as the wind pushed him back, and Maki could feel the air giving small cuts to his right arm but the wound was not very big.

Maki lands on a tree branch and sees a kunai aimed at him. He easily blocks it with his custom kunai. Right now, Maki is frustrated and now really got into serious mode. This was when Maki would use his full potential use of the shadow clones and really let people know why he is known as 'The Replicator.'

Maki started forming seals.

"Fire release! Housenka no jutsu!" (**A/N: sorry, I forgot the translation for it.)**

Multiple fireballs were coming right at Naruto and he unlike the fireballs that Naruto face when having a small spar with Sasuke, these fireballs are faster and larger than the one that Sasuke used and there are more of them. Naruto had trouble avoiding them and he could feel one of the fireballs burning his left shoulder a little, just leaving a small burnt mark on it. Naruto jumps to the opposite side of the river to look at his teacher only to find Maki right in front of him, delivering a blow to his gut.

Naruto doubled in pain as Maki grabs Naruto by the collar and tosses him to a tree. However, Naruto turned around and lands on the bark of the tree safely, looking at Maki from where he was. Then, to his surprise, he can still see the other Maki that used the fire technique still standing on the other side of the river.

'Then the one that just threw me was a clone?' Naruto thought, 'But when did he create the shadow clone?'

Then it hit him. 'Was it when he used the fire technique? Did he actually created a shadow clone just when I took my eyes off him for a second? How fast does he create shadow clones?' Naruto thought.

The real Maki can see that Naruto is still thinking but unlike the survival test, Maki will not be giving Naruto a time to think of a strategy. He told Maki that he wants Maki to give it all he has, well, this is what he'll do to his opponents when he's serious, although he would actually create more shadow clones and use higher level of fire techniques.

Naruto never seen it coming, but when he looked at the real Maki's direction, he saw something coming right at him and it was incredibly fast and small that Naruto could barely see the shape of it. The object that Maki threw was his custom kunai and Naruto never saw the kunai plunging the bark of the tree right next to him. The last thing he knew was a shadow clone being created right next to him.

The clone grabs Naruto and tosses him into the air. Naruto can barely tell what is going on. Maki is doing everything so fast that he don't really know what is going on. He knew that he fought his clone and the clone threw him to a tree. Then, he saw something coming at him and now, he is in the air not knowing where he is.

Naruto then felt someone grab him by the neck, bringing the two to the ground. When the two finally landed on the ground, Naruto could feel a cold metal placed on his neck and Naruto knew it was a kunai. Right in front of Naruto was another of Maki's clones with several kunai wrapped with exploding tags.

"You lost Naruto," The clone in front of Naruto said, "You can't escape the hold of my clone and he will kill you the moment he reached the ground. But should you have escaped, I will personally throw all these kunai's and that should be enough to incapacitate you or kill you. And even if you managed to survive that, the real me," The clone pointed behind Naruto, "Have already prepared a high level fire technique. So you won't be able to avoid three attacks at once."

Naruto was silent throughout all of Maki's explanation on how he actually defeated Naruto. Naruto now know how powerful this pink haired Jounin is and if the perverted old man is three or four times strongert than him, how many strong ninjas are there out there? Naruto sighed, knowing that he still has a long way to go. The two clones dispelled and the real Maki stood next to Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You may have become stronger Naruto," Maki commented, "But that doesn't mean a slight improvement is enough. You have a long way to go."

Naruto smirked, "So how did I do?"

Maki smiled, "Your Taijutsu has definitely improved but I'm not sure about your Ninjutsu since you only used once. But you have definitely improved and I trust that you will beat Neji."

Naruto clenched his fist, "I will beat him, for Sakura-Chan."

I smiled and then the two of us decided to continue our training. I trained Naruto in Taijutsu, blocking his attacks and teaching him new moves and how to read enemy movements. It would be easier if he had the Sharingan but that is not the case. I also showed him how to use the shadow clones in a much more advanced way and taught him two more Wind techniques.

It was already lunch time when we finally decided to head back to Konoha. We reached the gigantic gates a half an hour later and the two of us separated from there. Now the problem is what to do for the rest of the day. Maki had dinner with Suyuki and Sakura tonight but that is still several hours away. Maki could train and prepare myself but doing that is dangerous since someone could spy on him and report his skills. No, he can't do that either and he finally decided to just head home and get some shut eye.

He entered the Haruno household and only found Suyuki in the kitchen. Suyuki told Maki that Sakura had gone out to visit Ino. It has been a long time since I visited my blonde female student but I have to concentrate in training Naruto for now.

"Oh, Maki?" Suyuki called Maki from the kitchen as he was half-way on the stairs.

"What?"

"About tonight," She hesitated, "I can't come."

"Why not?" Maki felt dejected, "It has been a long time since we ate out like a family."

"I know," Suyuki replied, "But some of my friends asked me out and I agreed to go. It has been a long time since I saw them since I am always busy with household duties."

Maki shoulders slumped, "But you know I already booked three seats to the restaurant, who am I going to bring?"

"Just bring a friend along." Suyuki simply said and with that, continued with doing whatever she was doing in the kitchen, ending the conversation.

Maki grumbled to himself. The one night where he can be with his brother's family to make them happy and Suyuki can't make it. Sure, they normally do it on Saturday's but it has been about six months since they done that. For these few weeks were because of the Chuunin exams and before that was because Maki was busy with missions to bring in the money to feed the family.

'Who the hell am I going to bring?' Maki thought, entering his room, 'I can't bring Kakashi since he's out training. Himura is out since I can't trust her and the other Jounins are busy.'

Then, he thought of the perfect person. How could he have forgotten about him? After all, Sakura will be pleased to meet him since they have not seen each other for a few days now. Maki quickly created a shadow clone to pass the message to him. Perhaps tonight won't be such a bad night after all since he can picture his niece and him as adults, dinner, as if they are preparing for their marriage while Maki sat and listened to their plans.

The thought of that brought a smile to his face. At least his niece will be successful in both ninja careers and her love life, unlike him, Haruno Maki. Even his brother was successful in both and because of the failure in finding love that Maki improved so much in being a ninja, training almost everyday and finding new ways to fight with his shadow clones.

It is because of his hard work that Maki finally found the way to create the unique ways of shadow clones, using his own custom kunai. It is because of his lack of love that he finally got the nickname 'The Replicator' and he continued on training until he finally created his most powerful technique, 'Fire Lance.'

However, although he has never told this to anyone, his technique 'Fire Lance,' like the Rasengan, is not a completed technique yet. It is true that he has already inserted the nature affinity to it but like the fourth Hokage, Maki intended the 'Fire Lance' to be something else. Maki, to this day, is still trying to figure a way to create the 'Fire Lance' to it's true form. After all, everyone knows what a lance looks like. There is a reason why he called it 'Fire Lance' and it because should he complete the technique, the 'Fire Lance' will be ranked third, maybe even second, in the A-rank techniques.

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It was already seven in the evening as Sakura prepares herself. Her uncle had already told her that her mother will not becoming tonight and she wondered who her uncle invited on such short notice. They were going to a fancy restaurant and it Sakura had to dress up really nice.

After spending another ten minutes fixing her hair and dress, she walked out of her room and made her way downstairs to find that her uncle is already downstairs, waiting for her. The outfit that Maki is wearing shocked Sakura.

Maki is simply wearing a grey shirt with a black leather jacket and some faded jeans. This is definitely not the type of outfit for Maki to wear when going to a fancy restaurant. She knows that her uncle has better clothes for occasions such as this so why is he not wearing it.

"Uncle Maki," Sakura asked, looking at her uncle with confused eyes, "Shouldn't you wear something more… decent?"

Maki looked at his outfit and then back at Sakura, "What's wrong with this? It's okay."

"It's not when you're going to a fancy restaurant!" Sakura scolded.

"Relax, Sakura," Maki said, rolling his eyes, "Trust me, it's okay. Now come on, we have to get there before it gets too late."

They left the Haruno household and Sakura looked at her watch. It was just seven fifteen and the place where they're heading closes at around eleven so they are not that late. Maki must be worried that their 'unknown' guest might be waiting for them. Sakura wondered who it could be but from the grin that her uncle had when he told her, Sakura knew that he must be up to something.

Imagine her surprise when she saw Naruto waiting for them at the front of the restaurant. He too had a surprised look on his face and Sakura now knew what her uncle was planning. Yes, he know that the two are dating but it seems that he just can't help but want to help them get closer to each other when the two of them wants to take things slow.

They entered the restaurant and Sakura was really surprised that Naruto looked really handsome. He was neatly dressed and his long blonde hair is not really spiky. It was normal actually and due to the length of his hair, it made him even look better and with his long blonde hair, Naruto really looked like the fourth Hokage, from the pictures that Sakura has seen.

Maki had somehow booked a secluded area of the restaurant and the two Gennins wondered why they would book this kind of place when it was more for romantic couples. Sakura also knew that Maki is definitely up to something since they normally seat at a booth rather than here. The waitress gave them the menu's and Maki refused.

"I'm sorry, but I have to meet with the old man in a few minutes," Maki said, getting up from his seat and taking out a large amount of money, "So tell you guys what. The dinner is on me and the two of you enjoy yourselves, you hear?"

Naruto looked at Maki with narrowed eyes, "You're going to meet the Hokage with that kind of outfit."

Maki cursed in his head for Naruto being sharp, "It's not like I have to wear my Jounin outfit just to meet him." Maki lied, hoping that they bought it, which they did.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, not knowing what to do. The two of them started making small chat, and enjoyed their dinner. As ninjas, they never even felt the presence that Maki was actually watching them from outside, on a roof. Maki smiled, watching the two of them. He knew that the two are madly in love but decided to take things slow. But Maki wanted them to act fast.

The reason for this is that being a ninja is always risking your life and you never know when you might die. That is why Maki purposely planned for this, the two of them to enjoy each other alone. Maki knew that Orochimaru is planning something and the two are at risk. Maki swore to himself that he will protect the two with his life. After all, Naruto is a talented ninja and he will be even more useful to Konoha since Maki had no doubt that Naruto will one day surpass him.

As for Sakura, Maki loved her deeply like as if she was his daughter. She too, is a strong ninja and is talented in the Genjutsu field. However, Maki still hoped that Sakura will one day have a person to train her in the medical field. From what Maki thinks, Sakura, with her excellent chakra control can actually match the Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, whom is gifted in healing.

The hours passed quickly when the two left their restaurant. Maki, not wanting to ruin their moment, left them alone and made his way to the training grounds. No one would be up at this hour and he really needs to train without being worried that people are spying on his abilities.

Maki created four clones, one of them did the water walk exercise to increase his chakra control and capacity while the other two would help train his fire affinity by burning the leaf. The last clone, Maki engaged it in Taijutsu, to practise his skills. It took Maki four minutes to beat his own clone, and after that was done, decided to think out new strategies of fighting with his custom kunai.

Maki then trained using his fire techniques, throwing out fire techniques at absolutely nothing for twenty minutes, draining half of his chakra. After his three clones dispelled, he could feel himself getting tired. He knew that the experience gained by the clones tire him, but he had to train, after hearing from the 'Toad Sannin' that a group called 'Akatsuki' is after Naruto.

"You really have to relax." A voice said and Maki recognised it immediately.

"Kakashi," Maki said back, looking at the new comer, "What are you doing here?"

"Same reason as you," Kakashi replied, putting his perverted book into his back pouch, "This is the only time for us to train without being spied upon.

Maki smirked, "Yeah…" He looked at Kakashi, "I thought you should be training Sasuke?"

Kakashi nodded, "I am, but we decided to train in Konoha now. It would be safer."

Maki took a deep breath and starts to form the seals necessary. After four seconds of completing the fourteen seals required, he gathered chakra to his arms and then, his right arm engulfed in flame. Kakashi watched his friend as he just brought out 'Fire Lance.' He knew about Maki's struggle, still trying to complete his technique. Maki is just one more step away from completing it. He knows how 'Fire Lance' is supposed to actually work and should Maki succeed, it will indeed be a devastating technique.

After Maki's right hand was engulfed in flames, he used his left hand to start forming one handed seals. After another five seconds, he concentrated more chakra to the palm of his hand. Kakashi's eye widen and he revealed his Sharingan, watching Maki create the technique.

'He's getting closer and closer to success.' Kakashi thought, observing everything.

Right now in Maki's right palm, a small ball is gathered, like that of the Rasengan but the ball was still growing. The ball was then engulfed in blue flames, a sign to show that his fire is even more hot and powerful. Maki then concentrated the chakra to the ball, the red flame in his right hand travelling to the ball. The ball then started to change shape, from a ball then increasing in length but just as the ball was increasing, the shape now like a stick engulfed in blue flames, the stick suddenly dispersed, and Maki yelled in pain at his failure.

Maki dropped to his knees, clutching his right arm in pain. Kakashi sighed, squatting next to Maki, patting his back.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked with concern in his voice.

Maki gritted his teeth in pain, clutching his right arm, "Damn it, I was so close! I have been doing this for two years, but I am still not even near to the success."

Kakashi sighed, "For now, let that training stop. Your right arm is now injured for the next two days and with Orochimaru in Konoha, we can't have one of our elite Jounins injured."

Maki smiled, "You're right," Kakashi helped Maki to his feet, "So, what do you have in mind for training?"

Kakashi smirked under his mask as he took out a kunai, "I have a few ideas."

The two elite Jounins smiled as the pink haired Jounin took out his custom kunai, and with the silver haired Jounin charging at him, Maki turned serious, looking dead in to the eye of the Sharingan.


	26. Chuunin exam III

**Hei guys, so VERY VERY sorry for the late delay. It is about a month since I updated. The last time I updated, I just felt so.... I don't know, tired? I just didnt have the mood to write anything. I also know that I am supposed to update the story "True Love" first but I am having writer's block for that story. But don't worry, I will update that story!**

**However, during the one month, there have been a lot of you guys that fav this story, thanks! **

**So, once again, I apologise for my delay and please, review. **

CHAPTER 26: THE CHUUNIN EXAMS III

Finally, the day has arrived for the final round for the Chuunin exams. Everyone in the village is excused for today from work to witness the event. Farmers, shop keepers and other of the village's occupants that normally have no time to take a break have this day off to either watch the Chuunin exams or have a day off. Of course, most would want to watch the third round since it is not everyday that the villagers get to see the ninjas in action.

The matches that the villagers of Konoha looked most forward in watching is the Uchiha prodigy and the Aburame prodigy. Although they would have preferred that the young Uchiha faced off against the Hyuuga prodigy, that was not to be and out of all the matches, this is the most exciting match.

They are still hoping that Neji will face off against Sasuke in the match and the only way to do this is for Naruto to lose and for the Aburame to lose. However, it's not going to be easy since the Aburame clan are known to be good strategists, with only the Nara clan that is capable to beat them when it comes to the brain.

Speaking of the Nara clan, the son of the leader of the clan, Nara Shikamaru will be facing off against the top Gennin of the Sand village, Sabaku no Gaara. They have already heard of Gaara's reputation and that he has never been hurt before. Also, Gaara has completed a large amount of A-rank missions while Shikamaru has only completed one A-rank mission, and he came home with a few bruise and injuries. However, that does not mean Shikamaru will lose easily.

As the villagers made their way to the village, Naruto is still in his apartment, preparing for his match in silence. He looked outside his window as he enviously looked at the happy faces of the villagers and the smiling faces of children, with their parents, the one thing he does not have. But Naruto has important friends now, friends that care about him.

'Sakura-Chan, Sasuke, Ino and Maki-sensei,' Naruto thought to himself, 'They have helped me to become who I am today.'

Naruto sighed heavily, closing the curtains. He still has about twenty minutes for participants to gather at the stadium. He actually planned to meet Sakura before his match, but he knew that Sakura is probably at the stadium by now, waiting for his match. Naruto clenched his fist in excitement, knowing that Sakura will be watching him while he avenge her defeat in the preliminary rounds.

"Did I forget anything?" Naruto asked himself, surveying his apartment room. He looked left and right and made sure he has all his ninja tools. After making sure that he was prepared, Naruto walked out of his apartment room to make his way to the stadium.

As Naruto walked alone in the deserted street, Naruto also sensed a few large amount of chakra around him. He can tell that they are the chakra that belongs to the ANBU ninja's but throughout his entire life, Naruto has never sensed so many ANBU patrols in the village.

'How come there are so many?' Naruto thought suspiciously as he passed the deserted market area, 'Is something going on?'

Now that Naruto thought about it, he also realised that his pink-haired teacher has been acting a little strange these few days in his training. It seems that Maki was always on the guard when training Naruto, never letting Naruto escape from his sight. And this whole thing started the day the perverted frog Sannin left the village to do whatever he is doing.

Naruto shook his head, trying to forget about all these troubling thoughts. He is probably thinking too much. What could possibly happen on this particular day? Naruto continued walking alone, deciding to think on how to beat Neji. The only new technique that he has learned throughout this whole ordeal is how to summon frogs. That was all. The perverted Sannin and his pink haired teacher then told him to try and take out his inner chakra, but that training was a failure. Once again, Naruto sighed heavily.

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Two lone ninjas are currently sitting on the Hokage monument, overlooking the village. The two of them knew that this day would come and they have been training together for two weeks now, increasing their skills in the Taijutsu and Ninjutsu filed. They left out the Genjutsu field since neither of them are talented in this area.

The silver haired ninja is sitting on the fourth Hokage's head, his former mentor while the pink haired ninja sat on the third Hokage's head. The two of them did not say anything but they were thinking the same thing, and that is whether they have enough strength to defend the village that they love so much.

Kakashi, known as the 'Copy ninja' and Maki, known as 'The replicator' are the two top Jounin of the village of Konoha. But being the top ninjas of the village does not mean that the other Jounin and specialist Jounin are weak. Kakashi is the top because of his ability of remaining calm even in the most horrible fighting situations, reading his enemies technique and fighting style fast and memorising over a thousand ninja techniques, which made him a ninja specialist. As for Maki, he is the top because of his unique ability of creating shadow clones, use of shadow clones and confusion.

"I wonder," Kakashi said, looking at his pink haired companion, "If I can defend the village just like sensei did twelve years ago."

Maki chuckled, "Just because you're his student does not mean you have to be like him." Maki looked at the village again, "I know how you feel. Being the son of the great 'White Fang' and the student of the fourth, people expect you to be like them. You're already good as you are, but those two ninjas are already born like that."

"Born like that? What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, curiosity in his voice.

"You and I are alike, Kakashi," Maki simply said, "We are where we are now is because of working hard and our determination. But those two, the fourth and the 'White Fang' are born with that amazing talent. And we already know the fourth has a lot of determination, look at how great he became."

"So what you're trying to say is that we have already reached our maximum abilities?" Kakashi asked once more.

"No," Maki said, his eyes locking with the eyes of the copy ninja, "I am merely saying that ninjas that are born with talent already have a head start. It is like a race. We start about one hundred meters from the finish line while ninjas like the fourth start, perhaps, forty meters away."

Kakashi nodded slowly, understanding what he meant, "So we just have to double our effort."

Maki smiled, getting up to his feet, "Yeah." Maki paused for a moment, "But Naruto is special."

"What do you mean?"

"He is born with talent but his determination is so much more than any of us. He works hard and befriends almost everybody."

Kakashi nodded, "That is true. Even Sasuke is warming up to Naruto, no longer the emo kid."

Maki chuckled at the nickname Kakashi has given to his personal student. Kakashi now knows the joy of being a teacher, teaching Sasuke everything the fourth taught him. Sasuke is also losing the interest of revenge thanks to Naruto. Maki smiled at that thought. Naruto is changing people's lives for the better. He will indeed be a great Hokage in the future.

Kakashi stood up also, cleaning the dust off his pants, "Let's head to the stadium. I don't want to miss my student's match."

Maki agreed and the two ninjas disappeared in a puff of smoke, not leaving any trace behind to tell people that they were there.

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Naruto reached the stadium a few minutes later and headed off to the room where the contestants have to wait until the Jounin referee arrives. In the room are the three Sand ninjas, Sasuke, Neji and Shino. The only ones that are not yet here are Shikamaru and the Sound ninja.

All of the Gennins in the room took a quick glance at Naruto when he entered the room and then resumed whatever it was they are doing. Naruto glared at Neji for a few seconds and then walked to Sasuke, his only team mate from his team. He walked to Sasuke, who is sitting on a chair.

"So," Naruto started, "Can I assume that you're ready for your match?"

Sasuke smirked, "I should be asking you that question, dobe."

"I have not seen you in a month." Naruto said, changing the subject. Normally the two would argue when Sasuke called him a dobe.

"Yeah, I was out training with Kakashi-sensei for two weeks before we returned to Konoha and we trained in discreet after that."

"Out of Konoha?" Naruto asked, wondering why Sasuke needed to do that.

"Yeah," Sasuke shrugged, "Kakashi-sensei said something about not wanting people to spy on our training. But it seems that Kakashi-sensei was trying to avoid being watched."

"Same here," Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke, "Maki-sensei have been training me with full alert. It seems that he didn't want anyone to spy on us."

The two Gennins of team seven did not say anything after that. The three Sand ninjas were also silent, not saying a word. The only thing they can feel about the Sand ninja is the large amount of killing intent coming out of Gaara. Then, the door opened and a fellow Gennin entered the room.

"Am I late?" Shikamaru asked in a bored tone.

None of the Gennins answered and Shikamaru sighed. He will never know how it was actually possible for him to have actually passed the preliminary rounds. He checks all of the Gennins in the room and he can tell that all of them are stronger than him, in the terms of physical strength. And his first match is actually with Gaara, the ninja that defeated Kiba with ease.

'He uses Sand in the form of defence and offence,' Shikamaru thought to himself as he walked to a window that shows the arena of the stadium. Shikamaru can see all the villagers taking their seat above them, 'Defeating Gaara is not going to be easy.'

"You look troubled, Shikamaru." A familiar voice said and Shikamaru recognised it as his blonde haired friend.

"What do you think?" Shikamaru turned to face Naruto, "My opponent is someone that defeated Kiba without even moving."

Naruto nodded, taking a quick glance at Gaara, "You will just have to be careful of him. I know it's not a very encouraging advice but with your brains, I am pretty sure you can come up with a way to beat him in just a few minutes."

Shikamaru chuckled, "Well, that calmed me down a bit."

Naruto then turned serious, "But you really have to be careful with that guy," Naruto warned, "He will kill you should the opportunity arise."

"I know."

The two Gennins were then silent, and the only sound that can be heard are the loud voices of villagers talking with one another in the stadium. Naruto is feeling rather nervous since this will be the first time he will be fighting in front of people. Normally he has to fight bandits and no one would be watching him, the only one would be his team mates and his teacher. But this time, it is different.

As for Sasuke, he is anxious for his match. Not because he wants to fight Shino so badly but because he wants to test his abilities against an opponent that has unique abilities, which is the bugs. This should be interesting and not to mention that there are other strong ninjas in this room, like Gaara. Sasuke is also interested in fighting Naruto, to find out who is the better male Gennin in team seven.

Sasuke looked at Naruto's opponent, Hyuuga Neji. Naruto is not going to have an easy match, fighting against the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan when Naruto is a normal ninja with no special clan abilities. Naruto is at a huge disadvantage but then again, Naruto has the advantage of far range Wind techniques. The Hyuuga only specialises in close combat, so Naruto can maybe win by using far range techniques.

At that moment, the door opened and a man, perhaps around his mid-twenties entered the room and has a kind of weed sticking out of his mouth. All of the Gennins stared at the man. The one thing that everyone know about this man is that he is a Jounin since he is wearing the Jounin vest.

"Alright guys," The man said, "I am Genma and I will be the referee for your matches. I assume that all of you know that whatever I say goes?"

All of the Gennins nodded their heads.

"Where is Dosu?" Genma asked, looking around the room.

Now all the Gennins realised that the Sound Gennin is not here. All of them shrugged or simply answered 'I don't know.' Genma narrowed his eyes, wondering if that had something to do with the death of Hayate. Genma shook his head, knowing that this is not the time to think about that.

"Never mind, if he does not appear when his match starts, we will just have to disqualify him," Genma turned around and walked out of his room, "Now follow me. We are going to the arena now."

All of the Gennins obeyed the Jounin's orders. Naruto swallowed hard, nervous since his match is the first. He is quite confident that he can beat Neji since Naruto has been training hard but fighting in front of the villagers that have scorned him is nerve wrecking.

"Good luck, dobe." Sasuke is walking next to Naruto.

Naruto simply nodded, unable to speak. Naruto checked his kunai's and shurikens. After making sure that he has all of the ninja equipments he will need for his fight against Neji, Naruto clenched his fist, knowing that he will have to win this match to not only have the opportunity to face off against his rival, Sasuke, but also to avenge Haruno Sakura.

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A few miles away from Konoha, several Sand ninjas are gathered to discuss their plans. There are six of them here, and out of the six, one of them is the top kunoichi of the Sand village, Hajime Himura.

"Are all the preparations complete?" Himura asked sternly.

"Yes, all the scrolls required are here." One Sand Chuunin answered.

"Good," Himura got up to her feet and looked at her five comrades, "You are to begin the summoning now. With your current level, it is going to take an hour to summon the snakes and that is the exact time when we attack Konoha."

All five Sand ninjas nodded and sat on their designated places. They then begin concentrating chakra to the centre of the scroll, where the summon will appear. They could have just asked Orochimaru to do so, but he has to conserve his chakra for his fight with the Hokage, so the Sand ninjas will have to do so.

Unfortunately, the Sand village does not have any ninjas that have that large amount of chakra to summon a large summon in an instant. So the Sand village could only come up with this plan.

Himura gathered her equipment and made her way back to Konoha, preparing for the fight of her life. Even though it is going to be a war zone when the plan starts, Himura already has her sights to take down her opponent. Her team mate, Baki, will be taking on Kakashi, the copy ninja but Himura will take on Maki, the replicator.

'It all ends here.' Himura thought to herself. One of the top Jounin of the Sand will be fighting against one of the top Jounin of the leaf.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura is waiting in anticipation for Naruto's match to start. The contestants for the third round of the exam has already appeared before them. She can see that Naruto seems to be a little nervous but that is to be expected. Next to Sakura, is her best friend, Ino.

Most of the villagers are cheering for Sasuke and Neji since these two are prodigies from their respective clan. Sakura didn't mind that, so long as they do not insult Naruto, which they have done so in the past. Luckily for the villagers, they seem to not notice Naruto, or perhaps decide not to belittle him since he is now on of the defenders of the village of Konoha.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared right next to Sakura. Sakura recognised the man immediately. After all, he is the only man in the entire village to have long pink hair.

"You're late, uncle Maki." Sakura said angrily.

"Sorry," Maki apologised, "I just have a lot of things to do."

"Yeah right." Sakura scoffed but she noticed something different on her uncle. He has tied his long hair into a ponytail, and he only does so when he is going to be in a fight. Sakura also noticed that there are several ANBU's in the stadium. Although this is a special event, why would they require so many ANBU to be here. Don't they have more important duties to perform, like patrolling the village or doing S-rank missions?

"Looks like the Kazekage has arrived." Maki pointed out.

Sakura looked at where the Hokage is sitting. Indeed, the Kazekage has just arrived. She can see that the Hokage is warmly greeting the Kazekage like old friends meeting for the firs time in years.

"Uncle Maki?"

Maki looked down at her niece and he can see that she has a concerned look on her face.

"Is everything okay?" Sakura asked worriedly.

Maki made sure to not react to her question. He knew that Sakura has always been sharp in her observation skills but not to this extent. Indeed, it is quite obvious that there are several ANBU's in the area, but Maki thought that Sakura would just think it is normal. However, it seems that Sakura noticed.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, you tied your hair."

Maki touched his ponytail, "What about it?"

"You only do that when you are in a spar or when you are facing against a strong ninja."

Maki is a little shocked by this, "How do you know about that?"

"Naruto told me you did that when you had that B-rank mission three weeks ago." Sakura answered.

Maki looked at his niece for a few more seconds and then he did what he learned from Naruto. Maki knew that Naruto always did this to hide his true emotion but this time, Maki did this to hide the truth. He gave a fake smile, "Everything is fine, Sakura."

That seems to assure Sakura a little, but not completely. She also remembered that her uncle packed a large amount of his custom kunai's earlier this morning, about twenty of them, which he never do unless on a mission. Sakura knew that there is definitely going on, but she just don't know what.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Now," Genma turned to face the Gennins, "All of you can leave the arena and go there," Genma pointed to the stairs that lead to a balcony, "You can watch the match from there while you wait for your turn. The only ones to remain are Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji."

All of the Gennins started to leave the arena, with the exception of Naruto and Neji. Naruto and Neji glared at each other, but Naruto had the eyes that tell Neji he is not going to give Neji any mercy. Neji was not the least bit intimidated. After all, he is confident in beating Naruto.

"You should just give it up now," Neji said softly, "Destiny has already been written down that you will lose to me."

"Then I will change that destiny crap!" Naruto yelled, feeling his blood boil in anger.

Neji smirked, activating his Byakugan, "Changing destiny is useless."

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger and took out a kunai and got into a defensive stance.

"I don't care about what you say. All this bullshit talk about destiny and other crap. I will show you that with hard work, I can change destiny!" Naruto said loudly that everyone in the stadium heard him.

Neji did not answer and simply got into the Hyuuga stance. Genma smiled, knowing that this is a match that everyone would want to watch. After all, he has already heard of Naruto's brilliant performance against the Taijutsu specialist, Lee.

"BEGIN!"


	27. Uzumaki Vs Hyuuga

**Hei guys, here is the update. Well, I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. Please drop a review pwease? haha**

CHAPTER 27: UZUMAKI VS HYUUGA

All of the villagers of Konoha are watching the two Gennin participants. Only now do they realise that this match just might be better than the match they wanted which was the Hyuuga against the Uchiha. They saw how serious Neji looked when he got into his clan's stance. Although Neji is still young, he is a child prodigy and Neji is against Naruto, whom is not from a ninja clan, yet it looks like Neji is going to give it all for this match.

Of course, the Jounins and those that have watched the preliminary round have already known that this is the most anticipated match. Neji is a prodigy, no doubt about that, but after Naruto's brilliant performance, everyone is wondering just how good Naruto really is. With Naruto already having the knowledge to create shadow clones and his teacher, a master in that technique, there is no doubt that Naruto must be improving a lot.

The moment Naruto heard the referee telling them to begin the match, Naruto charged forward to attack Neji, despite being in a defensive stance. Neji, with his Byakugan, was prepared as Naruto swung his kunai. Neji avoided it and quickly counter-attacked, aiming his left palm to Naruto's chest. Naruto side-stepped to his left and grabbed Neji's left wrist. Neji tried to loosen the grip but Naruto was not having any of that and quickly charged up for a kick.

Neji was quick though, lowering his back as Naruto's left foot nearly kicked Neji square in the face. Naruto was still holding onto Neji's left wrist and Neji knew that he had to force Naruto to let go. Neji picked a kunai and swung in at Naruto, forcing Naruto to let go of Neji's wrist to jump away.

Hyuuga Hiashi, also observing the match with the villagers, knew that what Neji must be because Neji was out of options. It is very un-Hyuuga like to use a kunai or any other ninja tools in a battle. Hiashi knew that Naruto must be causing Neji some trouble, even though the match has just started.

Naruto and Neji are now a distance away. The match has just started thirty seconds ago and two were locked in a Taijutsu fight, which ended with Neji forcing Naruto to jump back. The villagers were in awe that the two Gennins were performing at such a high-level.

"Feeling pressured?" Naruto asked, grinning madly.

"Do not be so cocky." Neji replied, but Neji was indeed feeling pressured. Forcing Neji to take out a kunai just to stop the fight temporarily is something that even Lee has never done before.

Naruto chuckled as he digs for something in his back pouch, "Well, I'm just getting warmed up. I have been training for a month, you know?"

"Then let's see how much you have improved." Neji said, inviting Naruto to attack.

Naruto smirked and threw several shurikens from his back pouch. Neji knew can easily avoid them but he saw that Naruto quickly formed a seal.

"Shuriken shadow replication technique!"

Neji's eyes widened in fear as he saw the four shurikens multiplied to ten's of shurikens. Neji is still a Gennin and there is no way to avoid or block all of them. Neji jumped back to give him some time to perform the technique. Then, he started spinning.

"Hakkeshou Kaiten!"

Neji formed a blue shield as he continued spinning. The shurikens all bounced back from the shield, some even causing Naruto to avoid them as they were thrown back at him. Everyone in the stadium gasped, knowing full well that those two techniques used were high level technique.

Hiashi Hyuuga is even more surprised that Neji, a branch family member was actually able to use the Hakkeshou Kaiten, a technique that only the main members of the Hyuuga clan are allowed to learn and use. As for the other ninjas, the technique Naruto used is a B-rank level. Maki smiled at this. He thought this technique to Naruto just last week.

Naruto cursed softly and formed a seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Three puff of smoke were created by Naruto's side and three Naruto's appeared, making them four Naruto. Neji narrowed his eyes, moving into the Hyuuga stance. Even with his unique eyes, Neji can't tell which is the real one since all four of the Naruto's in front of him have the same amount of chakra.

"Alright!" All four of the Naruto's said at the same time, "Here I come!"

All four of the Naruto charged forward and Neji prepared himself. As they neared Neji, one of the Naruto jumped high into the air and threw two kunai at Neji. Neji backed away to avoid them. With his eyes, he can see that one of the Naruto's had snuck up behind him. Neji turned back quickly and laid his right palm on Naruto's stomach. The moment Neji attacked it, the clone dispelled.

'A clone eh?' Neji thought.

"How did you know one of them came from behind?" Naruto asked, surprised. He thought he had planned it well.

"My Byakugan can see in a three hundred and sixty degree sight." Neji explained, once again moving into the Hyuuga stance.

"But that means… You can even see things behind you!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's correct." Neji said calmly, although there is a blind spot in the Byakugan, but he didn't have to tell Naruto that.

Naruto growled in anger and all three Naruto's charged forward. The first Naruto reached Neji and tried to kick Neji but Neji easily grabbed Naruto's foot with his left hand and then attacked Naruto's face with his right palm. It was a clone.

The second Naruto took out a kunai and attacked Neji. Neji was a little slow as he ducked. Neji avoided it but Naruto was able to cut a small amount of Neji's hair. Neji cursed, not because he loved his hair but because he was a little slow and quickly tried to counter-attack. He never made it.

Just as Neji was about to attack the Naruto that cut his hair, he was kicked on the back of his head by Naruto. He saw Naruto coming from behind him with his Byakugan, but Neji was too caught up in trying to attack the Naruto in front of him. The first hit has been struck between the two Gennins.

Neji groaned in pain from the kick. He feels the place where he was kicked with his hand, and it really hurt. It looks like there is going to be a big lump on his head that will last for a few days. Naruto of course, is not going to give Neji the benefit of recovering. Naruto charged forward with his other two clones. However this time, Neji decided that he is not going to wait for Naruto. He too, charged forward, surprising Naruto.

The first Naruto reached Neji and attempted to punch Neji in the face but Neji simply ducked and gently laid his palm on the chest of Naruto, dispelling it which means that it was a clone. Only two Naruto's are left and one of them is the real one.

The two Naruto's are now in front of Neji, one in an attacking stance and the other in a defensive stance. Neji is getting frustrated with these clones and charged forward, knowing which is the real Naruto. The Naruto that was in an attacking stance attacked, trying to cut Neji by his shoulder with his kunai but Neji simply ignored him by jumping over him.

The Naruto in the defensive stance was caught by surprise as Neji attacked Naruto's chest, hitting directly at his heart and lungs. Neji also made sure he attacked Naruto harder than usual. Naruto dropped on his back and coughed blood and much to everyone's shock, the Naruto that Neji attack did not dispel, signifying that it was the real Naruto.

The clone that was ignored growled in anger and was about to attack Neji when Neji simply took out a shuriken from his shuriken holster and threw it at the clone, easily dispelling it. Naruto winced in pain, his eyes demanding an explanation.

"You're an idiot," Neji spat, "It was obvious that you would always send your clones into battle and when I looked at the clone and the real one, it was pretty obvious that you, in the defensive stance, would be the real one."

Naruto slowly got back to his feet, still holding his chest in pain, "Don't talk like you know everything."

"I already told you that you cannot change destiny."

Naruto clenched his fist in anger, ignoring the blood that is seeping out of his mouth, "I already told you to cut the crap about destiny!"

"It is useless talking sense to idiots like you." Neji then charged forward, preparing to attack Naruto's chest again.

Naruto of course, saw it coming. He is not the kind of ninja that would get fooled by the same trick twice and also because he knew he cannot take another hit like that. Fighting against someone like Neji is hard due to the fact that Naruto can only take about three hits to his heart and he will lose the match.

Neji attacked Naruto's chest with his right palm but Naruto moved to his left and quickly counter-attacked by aiming the ankles of Neji with his leg. Naruto got his target, sweeping Neji off his feet. Neji landed on his back, grunting in pain. Naruto jumped into the air, his left fist charged to punch Neji in the face.

Neji cursed softly, knowing that if he gets hit by a charged up punch like that would break his nose. Neji rolled to his left at the nick of time, Naruto punching the ground, leaving a small crack but that is not going to stop Naruto. With great speed, Naruto took out a kunai and started swinging left and right, and Neji avoiding the sharp object as best he can. At last, the attack got too much and Neji jumped back, a huge gap between the two Gennins.

However, this was what Naruto wanted. Naruto quickly started forming seals.

"Wind release! Air bullet!"

Neji eyes widen in shock. Now he knew that Naruto was actually trying to leave a gap between them. Not only is Naruto good with long-range Wind techniques, it is also Neji's weakness since Neji knows nothing but the arts of the Hyuuga, which masters in close-range combat. Neji cursed his stupidity as he jumps high into the air to avoid the oncoming air that is in the shape of a ball.

There was a loud crack in the wall of the stadium where Naruto's technique hit. Naruto looked up at Neji and smiled, knowing that Neji has no where else to run now. Naruto started forming the same seals required.

"Wind release! Air bullet!"

Thinking quickly, Neji knew that he cannot escape this. Although Neji knew that this technique won't defeat him, it will surely be a huge disadvantage to him since it might injure him. Neji was left with no choice as he watches the oncoming ball of air coming at him.

"Hakkeshou Kaiten!"

Still in mid-air, Neji started spinning and forming a blue shield around him. The ball of air was bounced back to the ground, crashing and leaving a small crater on the ground of the stadium. Neji lands safely on the ground but could not find Naruto. Luckily for Neji, he has the Byakugan and he realises that there are three Naruto's in the area. Two of them are behind him, and one more is hiding behind a tree.

'So he created two clones while I was using kaiten. Smart, Uzumaki Naruto, but unfortunately for you, I have the Byakugan and you cannot hide from me.' Neji thought.

Neji relaxed and calmed himself down. That is something that the academy had taught him. To remain calm in a fight, that way you can process information better on your opponent. Neji closed his eyes for a second and then opened them, feeling refreshed for the battle. All the ninjas in the stadium knew that Neji has made a smart move, calming himself down.

The two Naruto's behind Neji charged forward, forgetting that the Byakugan can see them. Neji spun around quickly, took out a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag and threw it at the two Naruto. The kunai exploded the moment it plunged into one of the clones. The explosion dispelled the remaining one.

"Is that all you have got? Naruto?" Neji asked, turning to face the tree where Naruto is hiding.

Naruto cursed softly, now making sure to remember that it is pointless to hide. Against the Hyuuga, there is no place to hide. Naruto walked out of his hiding place with a kunai in his hand.

'Damn it, what am I going to do?' Naruto thought, 'If I go head on against Neji, it is dangerous since he prefers Taijutsu. Although I am pretty good with that, if I get hit once, I might lose the match. I also can't depend on Ninjutsu and besides, Neji has that stupid spinning thing to deflect all my techniques.'

At that moment, a thought came to him. Naruto knew that he can't use Ninjutsu and it is dangerous to fight Neji in Taijutsu. So why not both of them? Naruto quickly bit his thumb and started forming seals.

"Summoning technique!"

All of the ninjas in the arena were shocked that Naruto knows how to use the summoning technique. Even the Hokage could not hide his surprised reaction. Naruto has summoned three human sized toads, two armed with shields and one with a large sword. Neji quickly got into the Hyuuga stance.

"Alright! Attack!" Naruto yelled and the toads obeyed, charging forward.

The toad with the katana charged first, prepared to slice Neji in half. Neji side-stepped to his right and was about to attack the toads side but Neji's palm attacked a metallic shield. Neji cursed, realising that the toad with the shield helped the toad with the katana. Neji jumped into the air as the toad attacked with the katana again.

"This is payback!" Naruto shouted.

Neji was so caught up with the toads that he did not realise that Naruto is in the air with him. His reactions were also too slow as Naruto's right fist met Neji's left cheek. Blood came out of Neji's mouth from the impact and Neji landed hard on the ground. Naruto landed on his feet safely and looked at the fallen Hyuuga.

"Have you given up yet?" Naruto asked with a confident smile.

"I already said," Neji replied, slowly getting back up to his feet, "Destiny cannot be changed."

"Why do you keep insisting on listening to these destiny crap?" Naruto was getting pissed with Neji's speech of destiny.

"Fine," Neji started to remove his headband, "Perhaps if I tell you the story of hatred in the family of the Hyuuga, you will finally understand that destiny can never be changed."

Naruto watched in silence and was shocked to see a mark on Neji's forehead. The mark is green in colour and in the shape of an X. Everyone in the stadium know of the history of the Hyuuga. This is just another bitter memory and everyone listened in as the young Hyuuga prodigy begins his tale.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It looks like Naruto is winning." Kakashi observed.

Maki nodded but did not answer anything to the copy ninja. The two ninjas are currently sitting at the very top of the stadium. Kakashi stated that it would be easier for them to spot anything suspicious and Maki of course agreed. So far, there has been no sign that Orochimaru is within Konoha but they knew that the threat he made is not a lie.

"I guess he still lacks in using the arts of the shadow clones." Maki stated while listening to the story that Neji is telling.

Kakashi turned to face his friend, "There is not much techniques to use the shadow clones you know? It is actually used for gathering information and scouting but you're the only one in Konoha that uses it unlike anyone."

Maki snickered, "Well, it is really useful."

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed, "Especially with those darn unique kunai of yours. You can never tell which is the real one."

"Indeed."

The two Konoha Jounins were then silent. They watch the Hyuuga telling his sad tale of his family. There have been so many bad things that have been happening in Konoha. The war is one thing and then the loss of their greatest Hokage. And after that, the Uchiha massacre and this Hyuuga tragedy. Konoha has suffered quite a lot.

"I just want to let you know," Kakashi said suddenly, "That I appreciate for being a friend to me after all these years."

Maki turned to Kakashi, "Why the sudden gratitude?"

"Well, I have always been an arrogant guy when I was young. I only acknowledged you after you became a Jounin."

Maki smiled, "Don't worry about it."

"Your attitude sometimes remind me of Obito."

The two were then silent. Maki knew that for Kakashi to actually thank him for something so small, it means that the copy ninja is really worried for his life. How can he not? This is a battle for his homeland and he will sacrifice his life so that Konoha can continue to thrive to the future. It goes the same for Maki. Maki had a tear roll down his cheek as he starts remembering about the past.

'So much has happened in my twenty eight years of life.' Maki thought in his mind, 'Thank you, brother for always being there for me. Suyuki, for always cooking me dinner, even though you yell at me. Sakura, I will always love you as if you were my daughter and will protect you with my life. And Naruto, you are my greatest student and I know that you will be a great Hokage in the future.'

Maki wiped his tear away and looked at the audience in the stadium. He can see that most of the Chuunins here are nervous. And then, Maki spotted Himura and what brought a chill to his spine is that Himura has a large killer intent coming out of her, and it is only being directed at him. Maki hoped that it was not true. He somehow had a feeling that the Sand village is allied with the sound.

After all, even though they are now allies with the Sand village, that has never stopped war from occurring in the past. Maki just prayed that this is not true.

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Naruto did not know what to say after hearing the tragic tale of the Hyuuga. Even though when compared to Naruto, his sufferings are greater than Neji, Neji had to endure the loss of a father and the burden of the seal on his forehead.

"That is why," Neji concluded, "You can never change destiny…"

Naruto growled and pointed a finger at him, "You are just too weak to believe in yourself!"

Neji's patience is now gone, "What do you know?! You will never understand the burden of carrying something that you cannot get rid off! You know nothing!"

Naruto was silent after this. Not because he could not come back with anything to say but because Naruto knows precisely the sufferings of carrying something that you have no say in. His friends do not know the burden that he is carrying which the monstrous fox inside of him. Naruto clenched his fist and grabbed his stomach, where the seal is.

The Hokage and all that know about the seal know what Naruto must be thinking and that is he knew precisely how Neji feels. The only difference is that Naruto's burden is far greater than that of Neji.

Naruto looked at Neji with a tear rolling down his left cheek, "Yeah, I know how it feels to carry a burden something like that. And, so what?"

Neji's anger grew, "You bastard…!"

"Just because you were destined to have that cursed seal on your head does not mean that everything has already been destined. You can still fight it! Like how I have been doing!"

Neji shook his head, "You are just too blind to see the truth. You cannot change destiny and I will tell you once more. Destiny is that you will lose to me in this fight."

With that, Neji turned to the Hyuuga stance. Naruto sighed. It seems that the only way to convince Neji to stop believing that destiny cannot be changed is by defeating him. Naruto looked at Neji and at his Konoha headband. He is a comrade, a fellow defender of Konoha. So this will help him in a good way. Now Naruto is determined more than ever and knows how to beat Neji.

"Go!" Naruto commanded his toads.

All three of the toads jumped at Neji while Naruto ran to the left. Neji welcomed the toad with the katana coming at him. The toad slams the katana to the ground, hoping to slice Neji in half but Neji avoids it and is about to counter-attack when Neji, with the help of the Byakugan, saw one of the toad with the shield coming to block Neji's attack. Neji anticipated this and started spinning around, forming the blue shield.

"Kaiten!"

The two toads were blown away by the blast and were soon dispelled, no longer in the world of the ninja. It has returned to their world. Now there is only one toad left and it is using a large shield. Neji knew that even using 'Jyuuken' will not be enough to destroy the shield. Neji relaxed himself and got into a stance that is only recognizable by the Hyuuga.

"That stance…" Hiashi is beyond shocked that Neji knows this technique, "It can't be…"

Even the Hokage himself is surprised that Neji, such a young child knows how to use this. Normally a Hyuuga can use this stance when they are either Jounin level or reach the age of twenty. But for Neji to use this technique, it is truly remarkable.

"Sixty-four palm strike!" **(A/N: Apologies, I forgot the full name of this technique so I just called it sixty-four palm strike.)**

Neji ran up to the frog only to meet the shield blocking Neji. Neji attacked the shield with just two fingers and hits it twice.

"Two!"

Normally, this technique is used to block all chakra points within the body but it can also be used to destroy large objects and this shield is one of them. However, Neji had to release a larger amount of chakra to his fingertips than normal. At the fifty-sixth attack, Neji destroyed the shield and continued his onslaught on the toad.

"Sixty-four!!"

The toad instantly dispelled the moment Neji finished his technique. Neji is now panting from exhaustion of using such a high level stance of the Hyuuga. He can barely hold his Byakugan. Neji knew that it was a waste using such a powerful stance on a summon, but if Neji did not finish them off, that toad will continue to block all of Neji's attacks on Naruto. This was the best choice he had.

Neji started searching for Naruto. With his low chakra, his Byakugan is becoming less effective. He found Naruto to his right and turned to see that Naruto has just completed a few seals.

"Wind release! Air's fury!"

Neji has heard of this technique before. It was used on Lee in the preliminaries and with those injuries, Neji could not afford to endure it. Neji, with his last amount of chakra, started spinning around.

"Kaiten!"

The box of air that would have left large cuts to Neji's chest was blocked and Neji dropped on all fours from exhaustion. However, Neji is not going to give up. He can still defeat Naruto with mere ninja tools but now, Neji is so low on chakra that he could not even keep the Byakugan anymore.

Suddenly, Neji saw a circle forming below Neji. He looked at Naruto and sees that Naruto is doing another set of seals.

"Wind release! Whirlwind technique!"

The circle below Neji started sending Neji high into the air. Neji was brought up high into the air but Neji is surprised that the technique did not leave any cuts. To his horror, Neji can see two Naruto's right above him. Before he could even think of counter-attacking the two Naruto's in the air, he can feel someone kicking his back, hard.

"U!"

Then, a second kick on his back, sending him to the two clones.

"Zu!"

Neji reached the first clone and the clone simply threw Neji higher into the air.

"Ma!"

Neji could then see the clone throw the other clone towards Neji. However, Neji was wrong. The clone used more force and threw Naruto higher than Neji. The clone looked down at Neji coming at him and raised his right feet, charged for a kick. Neji's eyes widen in horror when the clone finally delivered his kick right at Neji's chest, sending him falling to the ground.

"Ki!"

Neji crashed into the ground of the stadium, leaving a large crater. Neji can no longer move when he can see four shadows coming at him, all with fists charged. Neji closed his eyes and he could feel all four fists hitting him on the gut. Neji coughed out blood from the impact.

"Naruto rendan!" All four of the clones shouted and dispelled immediately.

Neji coughed out a little more blood and half opened his eyes. He can see Naruto smirking at him from above, his hands crossed on his chest. Next to Naruto is the referee, Genma.

"I already told you," Naruto said, "You can change destiny when you thrive for it. I am not like you. I do not sit down and wallow in despair and just let destiny control my life."

Neji, for once in his life, thought on what Naruto had just told him. He looked at the referee and can see that the Jounin nodded, agreeing with Naruto. Perhaps what the blonde Gennin had told him is the truth. He looks up at the sky and can see a bird flying freely. Unlike him, trapped in a cage. Perhaps Neji can also fight destiny to escape from this cage. Neji smiled.

Genma raised his right hand to announce the winner, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

At first, the stadium was silent when suddenly, it erupted with cheers. No one had actually expected the blonde Gennin that hosts the fox to not only beat the Hyuuga prodigy, but also to give such an astounding match. Naruto smiled and looked at where Sakura was sitting. He gave a thumbs up at her with his famous foxy grin.

Sakura blushed, covering her mouth. She knew that Naruto had already dedicated this match in avenging her but to actually show people that she fought for her embarrassed her. Maki sighed, happy with the development the two are having. Maki watched as his student walked up the stairs to where the other participants are watching and waiting for their turn.

'You will be a good Hokage one day, Naruto," Maki thought, 'I just hope I can live long enough to witness it.'

Naruto could not stop smiling as he finally reached the place where the participants are waiting for them. There is a five minute break before the next match began.

"You were pretty good," Sasuke commented.

"Was that a compliment from the emo Sasuke?" Naruto teased.

Sasuke popped a vein on his forehead, "Bastard!"

Naruto laughed and took a sit, sighing, "That Neji was a tough one though."

"Of course," Shikamaru joined in the conversation, "Did you really think that the Hyuuga prodigy would lose that easily? As a matter of fact, I don't think he actually expected to lose."

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, "It must be a shock to all the Hyuuga's."

"Will the Aburame Shino and Uchiha Sasuke please get down to start the next match?" Genma announced.

Sasuke sighed and turns to prepare for his match. He starts to think back on all the training he had with Kakashi. Kakashi had taught him mostly on Taijutsu and speed but he also trained Sasuke in his fire techniques and taught him a few lightning techniques. Not to mention that Uchiha's Sharingan is now on the third level, having three comatose. Kakashi himself is surprised that Sasuke could increase his Sharingan level so quickly.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, "Don't lose you bastard! I'm looking forward to fighting you!"

Sasuke smirked, "Don't worry. You should worry more on how you're going to fight me later."

Naruto grinned and watched his friend as he climbed down the stairs. Although Naruto and Sasuke do not know it, everyone around them have seen how much Naruto have changed Sasuke in just two months in being a team. And here they are, already taking the Chuunin exams. Not only have their friendships improved, so have their skills. No one actually expected the rookies to participate in the exam so quickly.

Sasuke looked at his opponent, the Aburame prodigy. He knew that the bugs can drain his chakra, which will be bad for Sasuke since he is a Ninjutsu specialist. He also know that the Aburame are strategists so Sasuke will have to be careful on his every move. Sasuke touched his curse seal on his neck.

'I may have wanted to actually follow that snake guy for more power,' Sasuke thought, 'But not anymore. I have important friends now. The safety of my village comes first now, rather than revenge.'

Sasuke knew that he would love to avenge his brother but now, Naruto, his pink haired and Ino are now more important than revenge. Sasuke is not going to be tempted by power by someone like him. Sasuke had a new objective in his life.

"Begin!"

With that, Sasuke activated his Sharingan while Shino called out his bugs from his skin. Now, the villagers will be watching two clan ninjas fighting against the other. Which of the two is the superior clan ninjas? Now is the time to find out.

"I won't be going easy on you." Sasuke told Shino.

With no change in expression, Shino replied, "And I you."


	28. A clan battle

**Hei, here is the update guys. I am posting this a day earlier because I feel like it, lol. Well, you all have been waiting for far too long, so I figured that posting this one day ahead should do just fine. **

**Anywayx, I will be either posting the next chapter next Saturday or the week after that if not the latter. Sorry, but college is REALLY busy... =P**

**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please review.**

**Oh, and I have not done a disclamer for such a long time that I just feel like doing this.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. man, that felt good!**

**CHAPTER 28: A CLAN BATTLE**

Sasuke has a kunai in his right hand as he charge forward the Aburame prodigy. With his Sharingan activated, Sasuke can at least predict what Shino might do. Although his Sharingan is just at level two, it will be enough to beat a ninja that is around his level.

Since the academy, these two ninjas have never interacted with one another. They never even have a fight when it came to a spar. So this will be the first time the two fought one another. Even before the Uchiha massacre, the two clans have never really been close to one another. It's not that they hate each other.

Sasuke swung his kunai in an attempt to finish his opponent by slicing his neck but everyone knew that Shino could avoid it. Shino backed up and then sent a wave of bugs at Sasuke. With his Sharingan, Sasuke can easily see the bugs and jumped into the air, counter-attacking Shino with a wave of shurikens. Shino blocked them by throwing his set of shurikens.

Sasuke lands on his feet and charged forward. Shino blocked a fist aimed at his face. Shino quickly grabbed Sasuke's wrist with both hands and throws him far. Sasuke knew what Shino was doing. The Aburame clan, though capable in fighting in hand-to-hand combat, they are much more adept to long range battle with their bugs.

Shino quickly sends another two more wave of bugs from his sleeve, all heading straight for Sasuke. Sasuke started running back but the bugs were fast. Just as the bugs were about to reach Sasuke, Sasuke quickly jumped into the air and threw a kunai with an explosive tag on it. The explosion destroyed the wave of bugs. Sasuke was so caught up with the bugs that he forgot about Shino.

Shino was right behind Sasuke and delivered a hard kick to Sasuke's right ribs. Sasuke grunted in pain and quickly backed away from Shino but Shino would not allow it. He continued to pressure Sasuke, delivering fists left and right. Sasuke was able to avoid and block all of his attacks thanks to his Sharingan. Sasuke had to stop Shino's attacks so when Shino tried to hit Sasuke in the face, Sasuke ducked and threw a smoke bomb to the ground.

This gave all the time Sasuke needed to get away from Shino and hide behind a tree. Sasuke has his back on the tree and looking at Shino from the corner of the tree. Shino seemed to not care that he lost sight of his opponent. He seems rather calm.

Sasuke has underestimated his opponent. He thought that Shino would not be that good in close-to-hand combat but it looks like he was wrong. Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration.

'How am I going to beat him,' Sasuke thought, his eyes never leaving the Aburame, 'His Taijutsu is a high enough level to withstand my attacks. And in long-range combat, I don't have enough chakra to keep using fire techniques on him. Shino on the other hand does not need much chakra to use his bugs. To make matters worse, my Sharingan cannot copy any techniques. Damn it, what do I do?'

Under Shino's large collar, Shino smirked, a sight that no one, not even his team mates have seen before.

"It's no use hiding, Sasuke-kun," Shino said confidently, looking at the tree where Sasuke is hiding, "My bugs have already memorised your scent."

The words registered a little slower into Sasuke's brain. He quickly jumped out of his hiding spot and on time actually as the tree was destroyed to pieces. Shino must have thrown a kunai with the exploding tag. Sasuke lands on his feet right in front of Shino with just a few metres keeping them apart.

Shino raises both of his hands, ready to summon more bugs from his sleeve. Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger and he is not going to give Shino another advantage. Sasuke quickly formed seals, five seals for this technique.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Behind Shino's black sunglasses, his eyes widened. That is the disadvantage of the Aburame fighting an Uchiha member or any other ninja that possess high level fire techniques. The bugs are easily killed by such devastating technique. Shino recalled his bugs and quickly jumped high into the air, sideways. With Sasuke's Sharingan, Sasuke quickly took the advantage.

Sasuke jumped to Shino and when he reached Shino, Sasuke quickly delivered a few blows. Or at least tried to. Just as Sasuke thought, Shino's Taijutsu level is quite impressive for a ninja that specialises in long-range combat. However, there is one advantage of the Sharingan.

Sasuke can already see the patern on how Shino defends himself and easily found an opening. With the two still in the air, Sasuke knew that Shino cannot fall back. Sasuke tries to give a powerful punch to Shino's face but as Sasuke predicted, Shino avoided it rather than blocking it. Sasuke acted quickly, and took out a kunai with his other hand. Shino was able to hide his shocked expression but Sasuke was able to sense it. Sasuke attacks Shino with his kunai still in his left hand. Shino was not prepared but being a ninja, his reflexes are quick enough to escape the attack with just a cut to his left forearm.

Shino was the first to land safely on the ground and quickly jumps back to give him some time to recuperate and think of a strategy. Sasuke also decided to stop his attack, knowing that the Aburame are good in planning their defense or attack. It would be reckless of the Uchiha prodigy to charge head on against the Aburame when Sasuke has no plan to counter any attack that Shino might have in his head.

Everyone in the stadium that is currently witnessing the match is impressed by the quick thinking of the Uchiha. The villagers of course know nothing about the arts of the ninja, so they wondered why Sasuke stopped his attacks but the experienced ninjas knew why. Fighting a ninja that plans their attacks would be risky when you have no strategy in your attacks. Sasuke did this well, and the feudal lords, judges of this exam, noted that. This is something that a Chuunin requires and it seems that Sasuke has that.

"Come on Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, trying to support his friend, "You can beat that guy!"

"Stop being so noisy…" Shikamaru muttered, standing next to Naruto.

Everyone in the waiting room for the Chuunin exams are all watching quietly, the only one that is making noise is coming from Naruto.

Shikamaru can tell that Shino did not expect a change in Sasuke's attacks. Shikamaru is quite impressed that Shino was quickly able to see how Sasuke attacks and quickly uses that knowledge for his defense. Shikamaru was also able to see it but there was one thing that Shikamaru also put in his mind that Shino probably had not. Shikamaru knew that the Sharingan can see how Shino defends himself and quickly thought of a way to counter him. Then again, this isn't his match so Shikamaru didn't know why he even cared.

'That Naruto is being too noisy," Sasuke thought angrily but then smiled weakly, 'But that is all the support I need.'

Shino was back to his relaxed pose. Although he did not do any research on Sasuke in the one month time that was given by the Hokage, Shino thought he already knew everything he needed to know about Sasuke by just watching him fight in the preliminaries. He already knew Sasuke uses fire techniques before that. He just never expected the Sharingan to be that useful.

"You seem to be confident." Sasuke stated, indicating Shino's current pose.

"Ninjas have to be calm when faced in a difficult situation." Shino replied, which was actually true.

"Well, let's continue what we started." Sasuke said, and immediately charged forward.

Shino, not moving an inch, summoned bugs not from his sleeve but from the bottom of his pants, coming out of his ninja sandals. Although the sight could be funny to the villagers, bugs coming out of the pants, it surprised Sasuke. Sasuke always thought that the bugs can only come from his hands but it looks like he learned something new about the Aburame clan.

Thanks to Sasuke's Sharingan, Sasuke was able to avoid toe wave of bugs by rolling to his left. However, the second wave and third wave of bugs were coming right at him. Sasuke jumps backwards and high into the air and forms the same seals.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Shino was waiting for that as he watched Sasuke destroy to of his wave of bugs. Sacrifeces have to be made to gain an advantage in the battle. With Sasuke now concentrating on Shino, his Sharingan is only concentrated on him. Shino used his index and middle finger to call back the first wave of bugs that Sasuke avoided earlier. Sasuke had a confused look on what Shino was doing and looked behind him.

Sasuke was too late, even with his Sharingan, as the wave of bugs smashed right on Sasuke's back. Sasuke never expected bugs to be so painful. Sasuke falls to the dirt face-first, and he landed so hard that he actually bounced on the hard ground once, blood seeping out on the corner of his mouth. Shino did not hold any sympathy for Sasuke. Even though Sasuke is a comrade, a ninja of Konoha, here, they are enemies.

Shino commands the same wave of bugs to attack Sasuke. With Sasuke still struggling to get back to his feet, Shino knew that this was the perfect time to attack. The wave of bugs crash on Sasuke's chest, throwing him backwards. Sasuke coughs out more blood and lands on his back, groaning in pain. Shino commanded the wave of bugs to continue to attack Sasuke, giving Shino enough time to leak out a little chakra.

The bug that Shino is trying to summon out of his body is a female bug, and requires quite a large amount of chakra to summon it. When the one female bug is finally summoned, Shino looked at Sasuke. Sasuke is finally back on his feet, running left and right and throwing shurikens at the wave of bugs but all his attempts are useless. The only way to stop the bugs is either to destroy it, or if Shino commands it back to him.

Sasuke threw a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag to the wave of bugs and successfully destroys it. Sasuke then concentrates on Shino, whom is just standing there and not doing anything. Sasuke knew deep down that Shino has already done something, and Sasuke did not notice. It would be weird that Shino did not attack Sasuke while Sasuke was earlier busy with the wave of bugs.

Sasuke was about to attack when he could tell something was wrong. His Sharingan suddenly deactivated and then activated again.

'Wha…?' Sasuke stopped what he was planning to do and stares at Shino, with his Sharingan.

Sasuke can tell that his Sharingan has weakened, but why? As for Shino, Shino was surprised that Sasuke has somehow realised that his female bug is sucking out chakra out of Sasuke's chakra system. The only reason for this must be his Sharingan. Shino cursed softly. Shino thought the moment his female bug successfully landed on Sasuke and began sucking out chakra would decide who won, but if Sasuke noticed, and then the match will continue. It seems to be the latter.

Sasuke found a bug on his left palm. He remembered that Shino beat his opponents with bugs and he also read somewhere that the Aburame clan has bugs that sucks out chakra. Sasuke quickly picked the bug out of his left palm and crushed the bug, killing it.

Shino's eyes twitched. Those female bugs are hard to find and Sasuke just killed one of his female bugs. He only has about four of them left in his body and is not everyday you can find that specific female bug. To Shino, this match is now personal.

Sasuke can definitely feel the effects now. A lot of his chakra has been sucked out. Although he has the body of an Uchiha, he can only keep his Sharingan activated, at the most, eleven minutes when he was actually able to hold his Sharingan for maybe an hour and a half. Sasuke will have to end this match quickly.

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Among the villagers watching the match, a lone Sand kunoichi was feeling rather anxious. It has been thirty minutes ago when she gave the order to the Sand Chuunins to start the summoning. In precisely another half and hour, the invasion will begin and the way the exams are going, it will most likely begin around Gaara's match. Perfect.

Himura, although Konoha was once her homeland, she felt no remorse that this proud village will soon be ground to ashes. The five mighty nations will soon be turned to four with the downfall of Konoha. Konoha does not stand much of a chance defending itself when they are against two ninja nations and what's worse for them is that the enemies are inside the village, and more waiting outside. Himura wondered what Konoha must be thinking to leave the village so defenceless.

Himura surveys the arena. Most of the Sound and Sand ninjas are disguised here, concealing their chakra. Others are disguised as ANBU officers/ Himura then looks at the Kazekage, whom is chatting happily with the old Hokage of Konoha. The two must be talking about the match between the Uchiha and the Aburame. She can see that the Kazekage is saying something and the Hokage laughing merrily.

That is something that Himura felt guilty about. The old Hokage is a good man, always seeing the best in others. Even right now, he does not suspect the Kazekage just because they are allied with each other. But in this battle, the Hokage will surely fall since he will have to fight the Kazekage and also his own ex-student, the Snake Sannin, who is somewhere in Konoha.

The invasion was properly planned. The giant snake summons should be devastating to Konoha and with the Shukaku in Gaara, there will be two large monsters causing a large amount of damage. And to top it off, from what the Sound and Sand spies have reported, none of the ninjas here in Konoha have the ability to summon a large summon for them. The only ninja that can summon is Kakashi and Gai, but their summons are only about human size and that will not be much of a threat.

The only ninja that can summon a large summon in Konoha would be the other two ex-students of the Hokage, the 'Toad Sannin' and the other, a female medic nin. But it would be unlikely they would return to defend their old village. The 'Toad Sannin' has been away from Konoha for more than twelve years, and the other Sannin… No one even knows what has happened to her.

Himura continues surveying the arena when she found two ninjas sitting on the rooftop of the stadium, watching the match from there. The one with the silver hair and wearing a mask is sitting lazily, resting his chin on his right palm while the other ninja has his long pink hair being blown back by the wind, sitting down and watching the match intently.

Himura gazed at her old friend and looked away, not wanting to have any emotions that just might jeopardize the mission. She has to be strong. Himura decided to go through the plan once more in her head. The Hokage will be busy fighting the Kazekage and Orochimaru while Himura will take on Maki and Baki will take on Kakashi. This way, the three ninjas that could turn the tide of battle are busy with their respective battles while the other Sand and Sound ninjas take care of the other ninjas. Good…

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Sasuke did back flips as he avoided the dangerous wave of bugs. Sasuke landed softly on his third flip and then threw a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag on the wave of bugs, killing the bugs. Sasuke is now panting lightly from exhaustion and also from depleting chakra. Shino has been on the offence since just now, not giving Sasuke a chance to counter attack. Also, his bugs have different ways of attacking, some of them moving in a zig-zag manner while some of them just charged forward with incredible speed. If it wasn't for his Sharingan, Sasuke would have been hit by all of Shino's attacks.

Shino was also getting frustrated with Sasuke. His bugs are depleting fast and is running out of strategies to beat Sasuke. Sasuke kept destroying his bugs either by his stupid fire techniques or with those explosion tags. Shino knew that he will have to soon rely on Taijutsu to beat Sasuke. After all, Sasuke should be quite low in chakra and once his Sharingan is out of the picture, Sasuke will lose.

Shino raises both of his arms again and Sasuke instantly recognises this gesture. Shino summons two waves of bugs flying directly at Sasuke. Sasuke jumped back and quickly formed seals to counter Shino's attacks.

"Fire release! Fire wall!"

This technique was taught by Maki a few days before Sasuke took part in the Chuunin exams. This fire technique doesn't do much. It is just to allow the user to either blur the enemy's vision or give the user some time to recover. For now, it was none of the above reasons.

Sasuke blew out a small amount of fire on the dirt. The fire then grew and soon, a large wall of fire was in front of Sasuke. The bugs of Shino went right through the fire, burning and killing all of the bugs. Sasuke sighed in relied and dropped on one of his knees, panting. Sasuke will not last long, with his low chakra. With his amount of chakra left, he can only use his new special lightning technique that Kakashi taught him once. Only once, and Sasuke knew that that technique will the one that helps him to win the match.

Sasuke's eyes widen when he felt a familiar chakra presence on his left. Sasuke was so caught up in thinking of a way to beat Shino that he never thought of Shino. Also, Sasuke never expected Shino to attack Sasuke. After all this, Shino has only attacked Sasuke through his bugs and only used Taijutsu in defence.

Shino delivered a kick to Sasuke's left ribs, pain shooting up in Sasuke. Sasuke coughed out blood from the kick but held in the pain. Shino may have had the element of surprise, but this is where Sasuke has the advantage. With his Sharingan, Sasuke can predict all of Shino's attacks.

And Sasuke was right. As Shino tried to deliver a blow to Sasuke's chest, Sasuke easily ducked and gave an upper cut to the Aburame prodigy. Shino soared high in to the air and Sasuke jumped up, now right behind Shino.

"This is where I finish you off!" Sasuke shouted, preparing to deliver a combo that Kakashi thought.

"That's where you're wrong…" A calm voice said, behind Sasuke.

Sasuke's jaw dropped and turned to his back. There, Shino has his right hand charged up for a punch and his fist is covered with bugs. Sasuke looked at the Shino he just punched and it was nothing but bugs. It was a replacement technique, but Shino used bugs instead of replacing himself with a log.

Sasuke was too shock to avoid the punch. All of the villagers watched in silence as the Aburame delivered the blow, sending Sasuke crashing to the wall of the stadium, leaving a large crack. Sasuke appeared to be unconscious, his back on the wall in a sitting position. Sasuke's face is facing the ground, as if he was dead. Shino landed softly on the ground and has his hands in his pockets, and looked at the referee for confirmation.

Genma looked at the injured Uchiha. Sasuke slowly looked up, his red eyes glaring at the Aburame. Blood was seeping out of Sasuke's mouth and a large bruise on his forehead, received from the punch that Shino delivered. The bugs must have increased the power of Shino's punch.

Sasuke slowly got back to his feet, his knees trembling and his two hands dangling freely, like as if Sasuke had broken arms. Sasuke took a deep breath and slowly formed seals. Sasuke did it rather slowly, actually giving time for Shino to attack but Shino did nothing, curious on what Sasuke was planning. Shino really thought that he has beaten Sasuke with that punch but it seems that the determination of the Uchiha is strong.

Naruto and Shikamaru watched in silence, just like all the villagers. Naruto himself thought Sasuke was defeated. Naruto thought Sasuke lost consciousness when Sasuke was punched to the wall, because Naruto has never seen Sasuke look so defeated.

"You should give it up…" Shino said softly, hoping that the Uchiha will take his advice.

Sasuke was silent as he finished his last seal. Maki recognised those seals and he turned to face his friend next to him.

"You actually taught him that personal technique of yours?" Maki asked with amusement in his voice.

Beneath his mask, Kakashi smiled, "He has the speed for it, so I don't see why not…"

Sasuke has finally finished completing the seals and then, Sasuke grabbed his right wrist with his left hand. Sasuke then started concentrating chakra to his right palm. With his low amount of chakra, Sasuke can only use this technique once and probably one more fire technique. This is where the match will determine whether Sasuke will lose to Shino or not.

All of a sudden, a ball of lightning appeared in the right palm of Sasuke. Everyone in the stadium gasped in surprise, unable to believe that Sasuke is capable of such a high level technique. Shino unconsciously took a step back, never seeing such a high level technique.

Thanks to the colour of the lightning, Sasuke's Sharingan appeared to be blue. Sasuke glared at Shino with cold eyes, taking one step front, "Prepare for my final attack…"

With that, Sasuke charged directly at Shino, dragging the ball of lightning on the ground causing dust flying behind Sasuke. It was like creating a path behind Sasuke. The speed that Sasuke is running at Shino is unbelievable that Shino never had the time to call out his bugs or try to jump to avoid Sasuke.

Just as Sasuke was a mere inches away from Shino, Sasuke changed direction, running around Shino to attack Shino from the back. Shino turned around to look at Sasuke, fear in his eyes but hidden behind his black sunglasses. Sasuke smirked evilly and although everyone expected Sasuke to attack Shino, this was not what Sasuke had in mind. Shino called out a large amount of bugs in front of him to defend himself. This was what Sasuke is waiting for.

Sasuke smashed his ball of lightning to the ground the moment Shino called out his bugs. The impact caused a large amount of dust to fly up in the air, blurring Shino's vision and also the audience, unable to see what is going on. Even though Sasuke too, is unable to see through the dust, Sasuke has already planned everything and knew what to do.

Taking out a long thread of ninja wire from his back pouch, Sasuke threw it around Shino's waist and started running around Shino in circles. Shino felt something tying him up but since he could not see his surroundings, Shino did not know what to do. The dust lasted for ten seconds when it finally settled down. Everyone was silent from the sight.

Shino is tied up tightly by the ninja wire that Sasuke used and has about four explosive tags on his body. Sasuke have used up his remaining explosive tags to do this. But that is not all. With what was left of the ninja wire, Sasuke moved a few metres away from Shino and has the end of the ninja wire in his mouth, and his hands in a seal.

"I have already completed the seals for a devastating fire technique, and if you do not want to die, surrender now…" Sasuke said, deactivating his Sharingan.

Shino was silent at first, looking at Sasuke in the eyes. Shino tried to release the wires but to no avail. Shino called back his bugs and then looked at the referee. Genma was looking at Shino, expecting his answer. Shino nodded, signifying his defeat.

Genma raised his right hand, "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!"

The stadium was filled with cheers for the young Uchiha. Sasuke sighed in relief, falling back on his butt and looking up into the sky. The sky was so clear, with no clouds at all. At least he has made the Uchiha clan proud by beating Shino, even though there were no living Uchiha to witness it.

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Hundred of miles away from Konoha, two ninjas are jumping from branches to branches at a fast rate. They had to hurry, as today is the day of the Chuunin exams which means that this is the day that Orochimaru will begin the invasion of Konoha.

There were actually three of them, but since the two of them are far stronger than her, they went ahead of her. Jiraiya, the 'Toad Sannin' was relieved that he finally convinced her to return to Konoha, after ten days of persuading her. Locating her was not that hard since she was famous for always losing.

"I don't know how it is that you convinced me…" The woman muttered to herself but Jiraiya heard that.

"To help your old friend and teacher…"

"Shut up you damn pervert! I never asked you!" The woman spat, her mood not in the conversation.

Jiraiya kept his mouth shut. He knew it would be wise to keep his mouth shut and not piss this woman off. After all, he nearly died once when he was caught peeping on her. Luckily for him, he survived that attack. Jiraiya chuckled at that memory.

Jiraiya then thought about Konoha. He knew that if the invasion has already started, they can still somehow make it back to help defend the village, although the village would have been pretty much destroyed. If the invasion begins in an hour, there might be a chance to defend the village without much damage.

He has entrusted Maki and Kakashi to defend the village in his absence. He knew those two ninjas are capable to do so. After all, they were not given nicknames that is well known throughout the lands that easily. But can those two last? Their ex-sensei has his hands full with Orochimaru and most of the Sound and Sand ninjas must be targeting the two Jounins that can turn the tide of battle.

"Come on, let's speed it up." The woman ordered, putting more chakra to her feet.

"Got it, Tsunade…"

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Naruto waited patiently as his battered friend slowly ascended the stairs. Naruto would have loved to help Sasuke up the steps, but knowing Sasuke, Sasuke would prefer that he did this alone. He has his pride after all.

Genma has given a ten minutes break before the next match will begin. After the two outstanding matches that everyone has just witnessed, Genma knew that they are going to need the ten minutes to either rest their eyes or discuss with their friends regarding the match. It was also to allow the feudal lords to think whether the winners have already proven themselves to become a Chuunin.

Sasuke finally reached the balcony and looked at Naruto. Naruto looked at the injured Sasuke and smirked. Sasuke looked away, a smile growing on his lips. They did not have to say anything as they are both thinking the same thing. They will be facing one another in the next match. However, they knew that Naruto has the advantage since Sasuke will not have enough time to replenish to his full chakra capacity.

"What took you so long?" Naruto teased, slapping Sasuke's back.

"That Shino was stronger than I thought."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… I could have beaten him earlier but he sucked out about half of my chakra near the beginning of the match." Sasuke stated, sitting on a chair now.

Naruto chuckled, "You should have been more careful, idiot."

Sasuke gave a lazy grin, "You're the idiot…"

The two continued talking, not noticing that Shikamaru was staring at them. Shikamaru sighed and placed both of his hands on the railing of the balcony, resting his head lazily on it. How he wished that he can just relax today… He never wanted to actually qualify for the final part of the Chuunin exams but that girl he faced in the preliminaries was just so full of herself that Shikamaru felt that he had to wipe that grin off of her face.

Shikamaru looked up at the blue sky, watching the clouds go by. How he wished he can be just like a cloud, flowing here and there with not a care in the world.

"Will Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankurou come down to the arena?" Genma announced, cutting the ten minute break to just an eight minute break, not that the two minutes really mattered.

The three leaf Gennins looked around them and realised that the two Sand ninjas were no where to be seen. They can see Gaara standing in a corner, his arms crossed on his chest with those icy cold eyes. Naruto gulped. Although Naruto had once challenged Gaara when he saved Shikamaru and Sakura from the other two Sand Gennins, now he somehow regretted doing so. Naruto can feel that Gaara is different from the rest, but same like him.

Sasuke has his eyes locked on Gaara. Even though he never witnessed the match, he has heard that Gaara defeated Kiba easily without moving an inch. Kiba is quite a capable ninja and to be defeated that easily is unheard of. Just how powerful is this red haired Sand ninja?

"I will repeat once more, Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankurou, your match is about to begin!" Genma announced once more, his voice agitated.

Silence. The two Sand ninjas were no where to be seen.

Genma looked up at the Hokage. The Hokage merely gave a nod. Genma understood this and cleared his throat, "For now, we will skip this match and go on to the other match. Will Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Gaara come out instead?"

Shikamaru nearly jumped when he heard his name. It was not supposed to be his match yet but it seems that the referee is changing the rules. Shikamaru backed off the railing, fear written all over his eyes. At the same time, Gaara just passed by him and then jumped down from the balcony, landing easily on the soft earth and walking to Genma.

"Nara Shikamaru!" Genma called out.

Shikamaru turned to face Naruto. Naruto simply shrugged while Sasuke just nodded. Shikamaru looked down at Gaara from the balcony. Gaara did not look back. Gaara is just standing there, relaxed and cool.

"This is so troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered. Naruto and Sasuke heard this and the two knew that he is just saying that to calm himself down.

Shikamaru lazily walked down the stairs and it took two minutes for Shikamaru to finally face Gaara. Shikamaru has his hands in his pockets and although the outside doesn't show it, Shikamaru is trembling in fear of just looking at Gaara.

"Come on Shikamaru!" Sakura yelled from where she was sitting, trying to support her team mate "You can do it!"

This did not ease Shikamaru's mind.

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Haruno Maki took out his custom kunai, inspecting it. Maki has brought out about twenty five of his custom kunai, a large number of them. As a matter of fact, this is the largest amount he has brought with him. Maki has never taken out this much of his unique kunai's and he has even left a clone at home just in case he needs more.

Kakashi got to his feet, stretching his hands, "It looks like it is about to begin…"

Maki shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe that they can be so stupid to think that we are dumb enough not to notice…"

Kakashi and Maki have realised that some of the ANBU officers stationed in the stadium were actually in disguise. They were Sound ninjas and Maki noticed that most of the ANBU in disguise were starting to regroup. This showed that they are about to commence the plan.

Kakashi laughed beneath his mask, "So, you ready?"

Maki nodded and got to his feet, his custom kunai held tightly in his right hand, "Ready as you are. The invasion will begin soon."

"Indeed."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gaara could feel his bloodlust begin to grow. He has been holding himself back for far too long. He has to kill someone right now! And the person in front of him would be just right to calm himself down. He has to have his sanity since the plan will begin soon. He cannot disappoint his female teacher.

"Begin!" Genma shouted and with that, Gaara released his sand from his gourd, ready to kill Shikamaru.

Shikamaru calmed himself down and jumped back, knowing that this is no longer a fight to become a Chuunin. This is a fight for his life and Shikamaru is going to give everything he's got for this match.


	29. The invasion begins

CHAPTER 29: THE INVASION BEGINS

Shikamaru was attacked immediately the moment Genma allowed the match to start. A large amount of sand immediately went after Shikamaru. Shikamaru rolled to his right but the sand continued on pursuing Shikamaru. Everyone in the stadium stared in awe by the attacks of Gaara. The ninjas here that have witnessed the preliminaries were not surprised, but the others were surprised that Gaara can attack using Sand. That is something unique.

Shikamaru did a back-flip as a wave sand almost smashed on him. Shikamaru lands on his feet and runs to his right, the wave of sand behind him. Knowing that he will never stop running, he decides to attack Gaara. Shikamaru took out a kunai and threw it at Gaara. Sure enough, a certain amount of sand blocked the kunai for Gaara without moving an inch.

Gaara watched unsmilingly at Shikamaru. Just like in the preliminaries, he has his arms crossed on his chest, just letting his sand do the work for him. After all, ever since he became a ninja, none were able to hurt him physically. All attempts have failed so it was no surprise that the sand blocked the kunai thrown by Shikamaru.

'So does the sand automatically protect Gaara? Or is it by Gaara's controls? The match he had with Kiba does not give me enough information. No matter, I'll find out myself.' Shikamaru thought as he continues running away from the sand. Of course, the villagers were starting to wonder if this was a match worth watching as they can clearly see that Gaara is not even serious in this match, which show the large difference in their skills.

"What the hell are you doing?" A villager shouted, throwing rubbish into the arena.

Several other villagers then joined in the rant, insulting Shikamaru and demanding that the match be given to Gaara as Shikamaru is not doing anything. Genma hid his face in his right palm, trying to calm himself down. These villagers have no patience. He can see that Gaara is definitely having the upper-hand, but you cannot determine the winner just because one has the upper-hand.

As the sand nears Shikamaru, Shikamaru quickly jumps forward and hides behind a tree for cover.

"It's useless.." Gaara said, ordering the sand to attack the tree.

The sand easily destroyed the tree into pieces. Shikamaru successfully avoided the attack and jumped forward out of his hiding place, heading head on towards Gaara. This caught Gaara by surprise, although he did not show it. Shikamaru tries to deliver a kick to Gaara's face, but just like Shikamaru predicted, the sand blocked Shikamaru's kick without Gaara ordering it to.

'So it does protect him without him ordering to.' Shikamaru thought as he jumped away from Gaara.

"I will end the match now…" Gaara said coldly, raising his right hand and pointing it at Shikamaru.

The sand from Gaara' gourd move with incredible speed towards Shikamaru. Despite having the senses of a ninja, the speed was too fast and the sand crashed onto Shikamaru's chest, sending him crashing on the ground. Shikamaru coughed a few times from difficulty of breathing and quickly formed his family's seal.

"Shadow bind technique!"

The shadow of Shikamaru starts to charge at Gaara. Gaara remembered in the match that the shadow allows Shikamaru to control the person that the shadow touches. Although it is practically harmless to him, Gaara has no intention in losing this match.

Gaara waves his right hand in front of him and the sand immediately starts to form a barrier for the oncoming shadow. Shikamaru knew he's going to have to pay attention here. The shadow touches the sand and by now, Shikamaru should be able to control Gaara. Shikamaru stands up and moves, but Gaara does nothing.

'So my shadow has caught the sand shield instead?' Shikamaru observed.

Gaara narrowed his eyes, knowing that it was a close call that his sand blocked the shadow. Although Shikamaru may seem to have been an easy opponent, Gaara knew that the longer the match, the more Shikamaru can learn about Gaara's abilities and Gaara had no doubt that Shikamaru will put it to his advantage.

Gaara quickly waved his two arms, his right arm moving to the left while his left hand moved a little to the right with clenched fist. The sand shield dropped to the ground and immediately started to charge Shikamaru. Shikamaru's shadow technique has been dispelled and the sand was so fast that Shikamaru barely dodged it.

Shikamaru did a back flip but the sand wave continued to pursue him. Shikamaru turned around and quickly started to run only to find another wave of sand in front of him. There were now two sand waves, one behind him and one in front of him. They were going to crush him into a pan cake. Shikamaru rolled to his right on time as the two wall of sand slammed into one another. Shikamaru took a quick glance at Gaara but that was his mistake.

The moment Shikamaru allowed his eyes to gaze elsewhere, a large amount of sand infused with chakra slammed onto Shikamaru's back, sending him thrashing forward on the ground, leaving dirt marks all over his body. There were also a few scars and scratches from hitting the ground. Shikamaru groaned in pain and stood up on shaky knees.

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger, holding on the railing tightly. Naruto's anger was increasing. Naruto knew that Gaara was planning to kill Shikamaru if given the chance and Naruto is not even able to do a thing to help Shikamaru, and Naruto is so close! The frustration is killing him when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto turned and realised that it was Sasuke.

"Relax," Sasuke said, looking at the injured Shikamaru, "He won't lose that easily."

"How can I relax?" Naruto asked with a loud voice. Naruto pointed at Shikamaru whilst still looking at Sasuke, "Do you know whom is Shikamaru up against? That red haired guy has never been injured, never! How do you expect Shikamaru to beat him?"

"He's smart," Sasuke said coolly, "Shikamaru can think about a hundred strategies in a few seconds. I don't know Shikamaru much, but I know that his brain can help him a lot. Even when his match is impossible to win."

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a few seconds and then looked back at Shikamaru. Shikamaru is currently backing away as three sand waves continue to chase him. Gaara is simply standing there, waving his arms here and there, controlling the sand.

'Damn it, I need a moment of peace to come up with something!' Shikamaru thought as he barely dodged a wave of sand coming from his right.

Shikamaru took out a smoke bomb from his pouch and without a moment of hesitation, threw it to the ground. Shikamaru's surrounding is now filled with smoke and the attack from Gaara stopped. Gaara waited patiently, knowing that no matter how much time Shikamaru is trying to buy himself, it is useless.

Shikamaru observed the three sand wave that are waiting for him. The smoke is able to give him about fifteen seconds to analyse everything. Shikamaru realised that out of the three sand wave, one of them is connected to Gaara's gourd.

'That must be the sand coming from his gourd. The other two sand wave probably came from the ground.' Shikamaru concluded. With that small bit of information, Shikamaru quickly thought up of a plan. Although Shikamaru would normally think of about twenty plans and then slowly figure out which was best, Shikamaru knew that this was one exception. He had no time to do such a thing.

Shikamaru took out six kunai's from his pouch and took out a long piece of ninja wire. With that, he tied the kunai's into a row of six kunai's. Shikamaru realised that the smoke is clearing up and taking a deep breath, he put his plan into action.

Shikamaru was about to throw his row of kunai's when a wave of sand came up in front of him. The wave of sand attempted to slam Shikamaru into a pan cake but Shikamaru was quick to avoid it. He jumped high into the air only to realise his mistake. Shikamaru looked behind him and his suspicions were correct. Another wave of sand was behind him and Shikamaru quickly used both his arms to protect himself, hoping to reduce the damage. It didn't really help. The sand slammed on Shikamaru's arms and it sent him to the stadium's wall, leaving a large hole into it.

All of the villagers got to their feet to see what happened. They can tell that Gaara is going to be the winner of the match with not much effort. The difference between Shikamaru and Gaara is too much.

Shikamaru has blood seeping out from the corner of his mouth and his left hand is bleeding pretty badly. His right hand has a few bruised marks but it was in a much better condition than his left hand. It looks like Shikamaru is going to have to rely on his right hand to commence his plan. And he wasted no time.

With his row of kunai's Shikamaru quickly threw it at Gaara. Gaara showed no fear and just as the line of kunai's were about to hit him, his sand automatically went up to protect him. Shikamaru smirked as he anticipated this. None have realised this but the moment he threw his line of kunai's, Shikamaru had used his shadow mimic technique on the kunai. Since the kunai's were now flying in one line, it formed a small shadow beneath it and Shikamaru used the shadow for his technique.

When Shikamaru's kunai's hit the sand and bounced off, Shikamaru quickly released his bind from the kunai's and ordered his shadow to capture Gaara. For the first time in the match, Gaara's eyes showed fear and Gaara actually jumped back but the shadow was quick. But that was all Gaara needed, one second. Gaara quickly ordered his sand to block the shadow for him and the sand did it at the right time.

Gaara relaxed a little when the shadow caught his shield instead of him. Gaara now understood Shikamaru's plan. Shikamaru threw the kunai as a distraction but also as a 'secret' pathway for his shadow. It really surprised him and Gaara knew that the longer this match takes, the more Shikamaru can analyse Gaara's weakness and also think up of more clever strategies.

"Take this!" Gaara heard a voice coming from behind him. His eyes widen and turned back to find Shikamaru there with his right hand charged up for a blow. Gaara was fortunate that his sand would help defend him from any physical attacks, for if it were not, Gaara would have felt his first physical pain.

Shikamaru's fist was about to connect with Gaara's left cheek when his fist hit the sand protecting Gaara, and to Shikamaru, it felt like punching a brick wall. A small amount of blood seeped out of Shikamaru's knuckles. However, Shikamaru was smiling and Gaara was confused by this. That was when Gaara couldn't move!

"Im…possi…ble…" Gaara said, struggling to utter those words. His whole body was trembling, not from fear, but from trying to move his body.

Shikamaru relaxed himself and smiled. His only strategy in this match worked. It was simple actually. After Shikamaru found out that his sand from the gourd is the one that always protects Gaara, and that it was connected to Gaara's gourd, he knew that his shadow bind technique should be able to capture Gaara. So, Shikamaru purposely threw the kunai and tried to capture Gaara with his shadow bind to force Gaara to use the sand from his gourd to protect himself. Then, Shikamaru tried to hit Gaara but he knew his sand would protect him and with Gaara so distracted, Shikamaru ordered his shadow to move from the sand to the gourd. Since the gourd is always strapped onto Gaara's back, it would automatically capture Gaara. Mission accomplished!

"You lose…" Shikamaru said with confidence.

"Not yet…" Gaara said with malice, "You can't… win wi..th… just… me… following your… movements."

Shikamaru chuckled, "You didn't think that my shadow bind technique can just do that do you?"

Before Gaara could ask Shikamaru what he meant, Shikamaru formed a new seal. The shadow on Gaara's feet changed into a hand-shadow that slowly travelled up Gaara's body. What shocked Gaara the most was that it really felt like it was a real hand! And it was aiming for his neck!

The moment the shadow hand grabbed Gaara's neck, Gaara felt physical pain for the first time, although the one initiating the pain is not physical. It was a shadow. Gaara grunted in pain and tried to fight for control of his body, but with the neck grabbing tightly on his neck, it was difficult for him to do so.

Shikamaru, with his left hand injured, found it more difficult to use the shadow neck bind technique. And to make it worse, he only learned this technique from his father two weeks ago, so Shikamaru is not really good at it yet. Shikamaru is currently struggling to keep up with the technique and is hoping that Gaara will just give up to the pain and forfeit the match.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki and Kakashi are now at the stands, no longer on the roof. They have also informed a few of the other Chuunin and Jounins in the stadium about the Sound ninjas in disguise. Some also knew about it while others were a little surprised, mostly the Chuunins.

Maki and Kakashi are currently walking to Sakura. Maki was worried about Sakura and wanted to make she was safe. Once the Sand and Sound strikes, Maki won't be able to protect Sakura and if anything were to happen to Sakura, he will have no one else to blame but himself.

"Hei, Sakura…" Maki called out, causing the pink haired girl to turn and look at her uncle. Ino turned to look at her teacher as well.

"Uncle Maki! Where have you been?" Sakura asked with a hint of anger in her voice, "Were you even here when it was Naruto's match."

"Cam down Sakura," Maki said, both of his arms raised to calm down the pink haired girl, "I was there. I was on the roof."

"What would you be doing there? We have seats over here." Sakura replied, still fuming.

"I just wanted to observe the match from a better view."

Silence. Sakura did not say anything and Maki thought his niece finally bought the excuse.

"Is something going on?" Sakura asked. She has been wondering about this fr some time now. Her uncle would not just leave just to watch the match from a better view on the roof. Besides, the sun would have been too uncomfortable for him.

"Of course not." Maki instantly replied, smiling.

Sakura was about to ask another question when a blood curling scream filled the air. Every turned their attention to the two Gennins in the arena and they realised that the scream is coming from the Sand ninja. Out of the corner of Kakashi's eye, Kakashi realised that a few of the Sound ninjas in disguise now had worried expression on their faces and Himura, for the first time, looked worried.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shikamaru watched in horror as Gaara was somehow able to have broken hold of his shadow neck bind technique. No one has ever broken out of a shadow bind technique just like that. Normally it would be a struggle between a Nara ninja and the one that was captured or because the shadow user has run out of chakra. But Gaara broke out of it in just one go, without a struggle between the two. Shikamaru never even realised that his technique was broken off.

Gaara's scream was heard by everyone in the arena and since Shikamaru no longer has the technique on Gaara, his pain is not coming from the throat being strangled. Gaara is holding his head with both of his hands and Gaara has veins popping out of his forehead from whatever pain he is currently experiencing.

Shikamaru glanced at Genma and the Jounin himself does not know what to do. Gaara dropped on one of his knees, still holding his head in pain.

Himura knew that Gaara must be having those bad memories again and if this continues, the mission will be awry. Gaara will soon awaken the Shukaku before the mission even begins! Himura waited for another five seconds but when she saw that Gaara's gourd is now pouring out more sand than usual, she recognised this immediately and she had no choice but to give the order.

Himura took out her large fan and yelled, "The invasion begins now!"

"Roger that!" That response came from almost every ANBU in the stadium.

"Six of you," Himura pointed at the six Sound Jounins in front of her, "Kill that Nara kid. If this continues, Gaara can't transform until he sees that boy is killed!"

"Got it!"

The six Sound ninjas jumped from the stands and are headed for Shikamaru. The orders to carry out the mission was so surprising that the villagers are still not aware of what was going on and even some of the Konoha Chuunin are not aware. Genma saw the six incoming ninja and prepared to protect Shikamaru when two Sand Chuunins appeared, blocking his way. Shikamaru was even more confused and wondered what was going on.

"Kakashi!" Maki called out as he jumped into the arena to get Shikamaru.

"I know!" Kakashi quickly started forming seals.

Maki was the first to reach Shikamaru and quickly pulled Shikamaru behind him. The six ninjas each took out a kunai and prepared to engage Maki. Maki formed his famous seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Two puff of smoke appeared by Maki's side and the two clones took out a kunai. The first two Sound Jounin were about to reach Maki when suddenly the ground erupted beneath them and two large pillars went straight at the Sound ninjas. They were caught by surprise and the two pillars easily smashed on the Sound ninja and sent them crashing through the stadium's wall.

That was Kakashi's earth technique and just like they discussed earlier, Kakashi had supported him since he is a Ninjutsu specialist. Maki himself started forming seals and he finished his sixth seal in two seconds.

"Fire release! Death whip technique!'

Maki gathered up chakra to his throat and breath out a long wave of fire. The fire was moving in a zig-zag manner, left and right with incredible speed. The four Sound ninjas were caught by surprise and two of them quickly formed an earth technique to protect them. The other two never made it as the fire started to burn them. They screamed in agony and tried to put out the fire by rolling on the ground but the fire burnt them to their death. Maki put his attention to the other two Sound ninjas. The technique Maki used earlier didn't really take out much of Maki's chakra and besides, Maki's chakra capacity is huge so it shouldn't be a bother.

One of the Sound Jounins lunged at Maki with a kunai drawn. Maki's clones dispersed and the real Maki went face-to-face with the Sound Jounin. Maki's custom kunai connected with the Sound's kunai, the sound of metal against metal heard throughout the stadium. The villagers were now getting afraid and wondered if this was just a special performance.

Maki ducked as the Sound Jounin tried to attack Maki's shoulder. Maki then gave a powerful kick to the man's abdomen, sending him backwards. One of Maki's clone appeared behind the man and without a moment of hesitation, plunged the kunai into the back of the Sound Jounin's neck. The Sound Jounin's body went stiff as blood poured out of his neck. The clone released the Jounin as it fell to the ground, dead.

Maki engaged again in melee combat with the last Sound Jounin. This Jounin is much more skilled than the other as all of Maki's attempts to attack were foiled. However, the Sound Jounin put all of his concentration on Maki that he forgot about Maki's clones. One of Maki's clones suddenly appeared on the right and punched the Sound Jounin hard on his right cheek. The Sand Jounin fell to the ground but quickly rolled to his left as the real Maki almost plunged his kunai into the Jounin's face.

Unfortunately for the Sound Jounin, Maki had two clones so when the Jounin stopped rolling, the second clone was there and delivered a kick to the mid-section, which sent the Jounin thrashing on the ground. Before Maki was about to strike once more, Maki saw a wolf covered in lightning appear and jumped on the Sound Jounin. The Jounin's body started shaking as he was electrocuted and when it stopped, the Jounin was dead.

Maki took a quick glance at Kakashi and Kakashi, underneath his mask, smiled. The attack on Shikamaru failed but Maki realised that three Sand Jounins are now attending to Gaara, and Maki saw the other two Sand Gennins, Kankurou and Temari, asking if Gaara was okay. They got no response.

Kakashi then heard some shouting coming from the seats of the Hokage. Kakashi looked and saw nothing but smoke. Then, a figure jumped high into the air and Kakashi realised it was the Kazekage holding the Hokage by the neck with a kunai. Kakashi's right eye widen in shock and was about to go and help the Hokage when two Sand Jounins blocked his path. Kakashi cursed and quickly revealed the eye of the Sharingan.

The whole stadium was now silent. Sakura realised that a sleeping Genjutsu was activated and it has put almost everyone to sleep, including Ino. Sakura was lucky to be a Genjutsu specialist to notice this. She looked around and saw a small amount of leaf ninjas engaging with a large amount of Sound and Sand ninjas. Sakura realised the ratio was like 4:1.

'What the hell is going on?' Sakura thought. Sakura looked down at the arena and she can see her uncle and his two clones engaging in hand-to-hand combat with two other Sand ninjas. Shikamaru was being protected by the real Maki.

"What the hell?" Naruto did not know what to say. First, he was watching a match between Gaara and Shikamaru, and now, his teacher and every ninja in the stadium are against one another.

"Naruto, duck!" Sasuke yelled and Naruto obeyed on time as a wave of shuriken nearly hit him.

Naruto was about to say something when they heard three loud explosions. Naruto then saw black smoke rising from the outside of the stadium and he can hear more people yelling. He can also hear some ninjas outside the stadium delivering orders.

Maki finally finished off the last Sand ninja that stood in his way by slicing the man in the neck. So far, Maki has not yet used his custom kunai, which was good. Then, a familiar chakra presence appeared next to him.

"What's the situation?" Maki asked, looking around and making sure that Shikamaru is still behind him.

"We're outnumbered. And judging by the explosion, more Sand and Sound ninja have entered Konoha. Most of the ANBU are stationed outside the stadium so that's fine, but we're quite outnumbered over here." Kakashi said, his left Sharingan eye watching a Konoha Chuunin killed by two Sound ninjas. Kakashi felt anger.

"Then the outside of the stadium should be fine, since we have the ANBU. Where are Gai and the other elite Jounins?" Maki asked.

"Don't know. But we would really need their help." Kakashi replied and without saying another word, took out a kunai and used it to make a small cut on his thumb. He formed five seals and then, summoned a small little dog.

"Go and find Gai and other elite Jounins. Gather them back here, and hurry!" Kakashi ordered.

"Roger…" The little dog replied.

Kakashi looked around the arena and realised that the three Sand gennins were no longer present. They have disappeared but he can still feel their chakra in the stadium. No matter, it's not important.

"We won't make it if this continues. We are outnumbered and we won't last." Maki stated.

"Then all we need is to buy time. And Maki, you have the largest chakra here."

Maki looked at the copy ninja and he knew what he meant. For now, they will need to wait until reinforcement arrives. Maki looked at Sakura and she was looking at him too. He knew he has to protect Sakura and Maki looked at Naruto. He is looking around, not knowing what to do. Good, Naruto is perfect for the job. Maki formed his familiar seal once more.

"Mass shadow replication technique!"

The whole arena was filled with puff of smokes and forty Maki's appeared.

"Spread out!" Maki ordered and his clones obeyed, all going to the nearest enemy to engage it in combat or to help a Konoha ninja. Since Maki is skilled, his clones should be able to at least kill a few ninjas and help defend the area.

Maki looked at Naruto and started to make his way there, hoping that everything is going to go well. The invasion has begun…


	30. Panic and Chaos!

**Hei guys, I know I normally update pretty slow for the past two months, but I suddenly had the urge to update quickly, just like how I normally do when I first started this story.**

**So far, the invasion has begun! Finally I reached this arc. I'm sure you guys can see how my story is so far a lot different than the cannon and I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.**

**I apologise but the NaruSaku romance will have to be put on hold in this arc since it's an all out war right now. Almost every chapter will be about battle scenes. I won't be describing the Hokage's match since his fight will be pretty much from the Canon.**

**So, please review this chapter and I hope I can update soon.**

CHAPTER 30: PANIC & CHAOS

Several explosions are occurring all over Konoha and the ninjas of Konoha were confused on where to head out to defend the area. Of course, the ANBU, being an organised squad of ninjas ignored the explosions and just headed to the area where they have been assigned to. The explosions were most likely to just cause damage and confusion, which they are succeeding in doing.

Some of the civilians were actually Sound ninjas in disguise and they were able to kill at least one Konoha shinobi before revealing their identity. Of course, the experienced ninjas were aware of the disguise and were able to defeat the Sound ninja in disguise before they could attack, but majority of the leaf shinobi did not realise this and were easily killed in silent.

More Sand and Sound ninjas were popping out of nowhere but majority of the ninjas are outside the gates. Some of them tried to enter through the large wall of Konoha but the ninjas on top of the tall were able to successfully stop the enemy from entering the village. Also, the ANBU are doing a good job in supporting the other Konoha Chuunin and Jounin.

"Where the hell are the summons?" A Sand Chuunin shouted outside the gates as he jumped back from a wave of shurikens thrown at her.

"Give them another five minutes," The Sand Jounin yelled back as he hid behind a tree, "For now, stay back. We won't be able to enter Konoha with those darned leaf shinobi's guarding the wall. We'll just have to wait until the snake summons appear and destroy the gates for us."

Inside of Konoha, civilians are running for their lives but many were unable to escape the Sound or Sand ninjas pursuing them. The leaf ninjas are trying their best to protect them, but there were simply too many of them and being a surprised attack, the leaf ninjas are unorganised, with the exception of the ANBU.

The southern area of Konoha is already engulfed in thick black smoke with the fire burning. Most of the explosions were in the southern area.

A woman carrying a four year old child is currently trying to escape two Sand ninjas chasing her. So far, she has been lucky to avoid a few shurikens and kunai's thrown at her but she has finally reached a dead end. She looked back behind her and found the two Sand ninjas glaring at her with evil intentions written all over their faces.

"Perhaps we should have some with her first." The Sand ninja on the left suggested, licking his lips.

But his comrade never got the chance to reply him. An ANBU ninja jumped from the roof and took out his katana. The two Sand ninjas were so pre-occupied that they never sensed his presence. The Sand ninja on the right was sliced in half, from head to toe cleanly by the ANBU's katana. The remaining Sand Chuunin immediately jumped back in shock but the ANBU gave no mercy to the Sand ninja. The ANBU quickly formed seals and suddenly, the ANBU's right arm turned into a large number of wood branches.

"A wood technique? But no one has ever been able to use that…" The Sand ninja never finished his sentence as the ANBU finished the Sand ninja easily.

The ANBU returned his right arm to normal and put his attention to the woman behind him. He walked to her as he placed his katana back into it's sheath. Although he is not an ANBU captain, he is highly skilled. After all, he was once under the squad of Kakashi, the great copy ninja, but that was when Kakashi was still in the ANBU.

"Are you all right?" The ANBU ninja asked softly.

The woman nodded, clutching her child tightly. The ANBU gestured at her to find a hiding place. He would have preferred to help her find a hiding place himself, but he has got a job to do. The woman seemed to understand and got back to her feet and started to run, holding her child tightly.

"Yamato," A female voice called out from the roof, "Come on. We have to get to the western part of Konoha now. They need reinforcement."

"Roger that."

So far, the northern part of Konoha, where the main gate of Konoha is located, is perfectly fine. Although there are a few number of Sound and Sand ninjas there, it is the only area in Konoha that is still under control. The southern area is already badly destroyed. The eastern area is so far doing okay, since most of the elite Jounins are located there. But the western area is outnumbered by Sand and Sound ninjas.

Even though the ANBU are stationed all around Konoha, majority of the ninjas guarding the western area are just Konoha Chuunin with just a few Jounins. That is why 'Yamato' and his comrade are heading there. These two ANBU should be able to defend the area before more ANBU's arrive as reinforcement.

In the eastern part of Konoha, the green beast of Konoha is easily beating the hell out of three Sound Jounins. After all, he is an elite Jounin and the Sound Jounins made the mistake of facing Gai in hand-to-hand combat, his only and best attribute.

Gai jumped to his right as a Sand Chuunin threw a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag on it. It exploded the moment the kunai landed on a pillar. Gai looked at the Chuunin and with incredible speed, appeared before the Sand Chuunin and delivered a swinging kick on the Chuunin's neck, easily breaking it. Normally, it would just hurt a ninja, but since Gai has released his weights, his attacks has become insanely more powerful and faster too.

"Let me show you how the power of youth engulfs Konoha!" Gai yelled as he ran to two Sound Jounin and delivered each Jounin a punch to the chest. The punch took out the air out of their lungs and one of them dropped to their knees, unconscious while the other flew fifty metres back, dead.

"Yosh!"

Asuma smirked, watching Gai fighting so passionately. So far, the eastern area is doing well. Asuma looked at the stadium, and he can see on the rooftop of the stadium, two lone ninjas are now facing each other. He instantly recognised the ninja in the white robes. Although he rarely talks to him, he wished his father the best.

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Back in the stadium, the situation is not so good. The Konoha ninjas inside the stadium are still heavily outnumbered and although there were a few Konoha ninjas that entered the stadium from the outside to help, it was not enough. One ANBU did enter to help, but he was killed when he was ganged up by four Sound Jounins and two Sand Chuunins. The ANBU was also not that very skilled and was most likely just ranked to an ANBU.

Maki has already used two of his custom kunai's and it helped him take down four Sand Jounins. Maki's face has blood on his right cheek and the blood is not his. Maki moved his head to the left as a Sound ninja tried to finish Maki off with a cut from the kunai. Maki was not that weak. Maki grabbed the Sound's wrist and gave a large wound on the Sound's right ribs by slashing the man with his custom kunai. The Sound ninja yelled in pain. Maki released the grip and kicked the ninja in the same area where he wounded him with his kunai. The Sound ninja was sent flying to a wall, and was most likely dead, or unconscious.

Maki is nowhere near getting to Naruto and Sasuke. He needs to get to them to tell them what to do. As for Shikamaru, he is currently protected by Kakashi. Maki attempts once more to just jump from the arena to the veranda where Naruto and Sasuke are but while he is in mid-air, a Sand Chuunin appeared on his right. Maki cursed and turned to face the Sand Chuunin. Maki quickly formed seals.

"Fire release! Great dragon release technique!"

The Sand Chuunin also formed seals.

"Water release! Water shark attack!"

Maki was impressed that the Chuunin was able to use a water technique when there was no water around. Maki knew that the cost of that is a large amount of chakra. Maki's fire, shaped like that of a dragon, easily destroyed the Chuunin's water technique. Although fire techniques normally lose to water techniques, it seems that the Chuunin's technique is not a very powerful one. The last Maki was of the Chuunin was him screaming in agony.

Maki landed on a tree and looked at the veranda. Naruto and Sasuke are currently fighting what seems to be a Sound Jounin. Maki cursed and knew that if he jumped up again, another ninja will interrupt him. Maki realised that he will just have to use the stairs. Maki concentrated chakra to his feet and sprinted towards Sasuke and Naruto. Just as Maki was sprinting up the stairs, Maki spotted two ninjas catching up behind him, a Sound and Sand ninja. Maki had no time for this.

The pink haired Jounin took out one of his custom kunai's leaving him with only twenty-two left. He threw his custom kunai at the Sand ninja aimed at the neck. Since Maki's custom kunai is smaller and thinner, the Sand ninja never saw the kunai coming at him. The kunai plunged at the Sand ninja's neck, killing him instantly and the moment blood poured on the kunai, the kunai instantly reacted and created a shadow clone of Maki. The Sound ninja was caught by surprise and never got the chance to defend himself as the clone slashed the Sound ninja on the head, killing him. The clone then went off to help others.

Naruto was backed up to a wall as the Sound Jounin slowly stalked up to Naruto. Sasuke in on the ground, panting heavily. Sasuke has received a few blows and with his currently low chakra level, he can barely help Naruto. Naruto and Sasuke were however, able to wound the Sound Jounin badly.

"You brats are good," The Sound Jounin growled as he clutched his right shoulder, "I'll give you that. But this ends here."

The Sound Jounin slashed Naruto's neck with his kunai and Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Sound Jounin eyes widen in shock and turned around to find two Naruto's, smiling at him.

"Take this!" The two Naruto yelled as they delivered an upper-cut to the Sound shinobi.

The Sound shinobi hit the ceiling and just as he's falling down, Sasuke quickly got up and threw several shurikens at the Sound Jounin. The Jounin made no attempt to avoid them and it resulted in his death. One of the Naruto then disappeared in a puff of smoke and the real Naruto ran to Sasuke.

"You alright?" Naruto asked with concern in his voice.

"I'll live…" Sasuke said softly, sitting down. Sasuke just can't go on, he's just too tired.

Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke heard someone entering the veranda and Naruto quickly spun around with a kunai in hand. Naruto immediately relaxed when he recognised the new-comer. The man walked to Naruto and Sasuke. The man saw the dead body of the Sound Jounin and Naruto could see that he was surprised.

"You guys did a pretty good job in defending yourselves." Maki commented.

Naruto scratched his head, "We can take care of ourselves."

Maki then looked serious, kneeling down on his right knee, "Not for long."

"Maki-sensei," Sasuke said, still panting, "What the hell is going on?"

Naruto looked at his pink haired teacher and his facial expressions shows that he also demanded to know what was going on. Maki sighed and created three shadow clones to make sure none come here while he explain the situation.

"We are currently in the middle of a war between Konoha and both the Sound and Sand village. We don't know why they suddenly want to attack us but this is it, the invasion of Konoha."

"What? I thought we're allied with the Sand." Naruto asked, clenching his fists in anger.

"That has never stopped wars in the past." Maki replied sadly.

"So what do we do?" Sasuke asked.

"I have a mission for you. An A-rank mission actually."

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, clearly confused. How can Maki give out a mission at a time like this?

"I want you two," Maki looked at Naruto and then at Sasuke, "To get to Sakura and get any other remaining Gennins of Konoha to find the three Sand Gennins that qualified for the Chuunin exams to incapacitate them, or if possible, kill them." Maki explained.

"Them?" Naruto asked with surprise in his voice, "Why them?"

Maki looked at his clones and then back at Naruto, "I fear that the Gennin known as Gaara may have something to do with the invasion. The moment Shikamaru was able to injure him, the plan for the invasion seem to have… failed in some manner. What I'm saying is that Gaara is a key element in making sure that the invasion of Konoha succeed and he's currently out of the picture. I want you guys to make sure that it stays that way."

"Why can't you go and them out yourself. You're a Jounin." Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

Maki sweat dropped and gave Sasuke an annoyed look, "I'm currently busy defending the stadium. We are heavily outnumbered."

"So how do we find them?" Naruto asked, getting up to his feet.

"That's your mission."

Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded. Naruto helped Sasuke up and the two are now filled with determination. This is their first A-rank mission, although it is pretty much unofficial. Maki could clearly see that Sasuke is still exhausted and just as the two Gennins are walking away, Maki stopped Sasuke.

"What?" Sasuke asked, wondering why he was stopped.

Maki took out a pill from his pouch and gave it to Sasuke, "This is a chakra pill. It should be able to replenish your chakra. Take it. You're going to need it."

"Don't you think you're going to need it more than I do?" Sasuke asked, offering it back to Maki but Maki refused.

"I have one more. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

With that, Maki and his three clones walked to the railing. Maki jumped and now stood up on the railing. He looked back at his two students.

"Come on…" Maki said smiling, "This may be the last time we see each other. I'll guide you to Sakura, and after that, you're on your own."

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"What do we do now, Himura-sensei?" A blonde-haired girl asked as she continued to support her brother to stand, whom is currently unconscious.

Himura looked at Gaara and looked around the stadium. Luckily for them, none of the Konoha ninjas are attacking them since they are busy with the other ninjas. Himura is in charge of taking over this area and she would have succeeded no problem if Gaara had not been knocked out.

"Damn it," Himura hissed, "Look, Gaara is vital for the success of this mission. I want you and Kankurou to find a hiding place for Gaara to recover."

"You are actually expecting us to find a hiding place in the middle of a battle?" Kankurou asked, unable to believe what he just heard.

"We don't have a choice," Himura spat, "If you three stay here, Gaara is in danger and if he dies, the invasion will fail. No, you have to find somewhere to hide. I don't care where, just find it!"

With that, Himura sprinted to her right with her large fan on her back. A Konoha Chuunin appeared in front of her and attempted to slice her neck but Himura easily duck and opened her large fan. She sent the Konoha Chuunin flying across the stadium from her Wind technique. Himura is not a ninja to be messed with.

Temari looked at her sensei and then at her brother. It looks like they don't have a choice. They have to find a hiding place. Kankurou sighed and wrapped Gaara's right arm over his shoulder while Temari supported the other arm. The two started to find a way out of the stadium.

Himura looked around and she can tell that if things continue to proceed well, the Sound and Sand should be able to conquer the stadium. However, the clones of Maki seem to be slowing them down since Maki is quite skilled and is able to kill a few Sound ninjas. Also, the copy ninja is doing a good job in fighting the Sand and Sound ninjas in hand combat thanks to his Sharingan and killing a large number with his techniques. This is not going well. Himura then saw Maki leading two Gennin behind him and Himura found her target.

'Maki, you're mine!' Himura thought.

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Sakura watched in horror as she witnessed a Konoha shinobi dying right in front of her. She recognised the man as a Jounin. Although she has never spoken to him before, she recognised the man when her uncle came back from a mission three years ago with this man by his side. And now he lay dead before her eyes.

She looked up and saw two Sand shinobi glaring at her. Sakura cowered in fear when she realised she has been spotted. She was able to hide from the Sand and Sound ninjas but now, it looks like she has been discovered. The two Sand shinobi lunged at her with kunai's drawn and Sakura could see death approaching her. Just as the Sand shinobi was about to finish her off, someone stepped to block her.

She realised it was her uncle. He was standing in between Sakura and the oncoming Sand shinobi. The next thing she saw was a kunai going through her uncle's chest and Sakura watched in horror. She wanted to scream when her uncle disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What?" The Sand ninja spoke out in disbelief.

Out of nowhere, Maki appeared and grabbed the Sand ninja by the neck. Maki gave the Sand ninja no chance to escape his hold as he sliced the man's neck and blood poured out of the Sand ninja's neck. The other Sand ninja backed away when two Maki's appeared. The clone Maki behind the Sand ninja grabbed the man so that he couldn't escape and the other clone easily finished the man off with a cut to the Sand ninja's neck.

Sakura watched in awe. Just a moment ago, she thought she saw her uncle taking the blow for her and now she watched her uncle easily finishing off two ninjas in a matter of six seconds while the other Konoha Jounin died in the hands of these two Sand ninjas. Now Sakura knew why her uncle is one of the top Jounin of Konoha and with his clones, knew why he was known as 'The Replicator.'

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Maki asked as he bent down and cupped her cheek. The other two clones were watching out for the real Maki.

Sakura could not say anything due to fear and shock so she just nodded hear head. Then she saw Naruto and Sasuke appearing. Sakura was relieved to see Naruto and jumped up to hug him.

"You're alright, Naruto-kun!" Sakura said with joy in her voice. She had tears rolling down her cheek.

This surprised Naruto and after a couple of seconds just standing there, he rubbed Sakura's back, trying to calm her down. Naruto would have loved to enjoy this moment but they are in the middle of a battle. Naruto grabbed onto Sakura's shoulder and pulled him out of the hug.

"I'm glad you're safe, Sakura-Chan." Naruto said happily.

Sakura felt her heart flutter when she saw the smile that she loved so much. It has been far too long since she last seen that smile. She was so lost in the moment that Naruto had to pull Sakura down when a kunai flew past her head. It also almost hit Sasuke but Sasuke also ducked and the three Gennins are hidden once more.

Sasuke looked up and found three Sound Jounins facing Maki and a Sand ninja. Maki and his two clones prepared themselves for battle. Maki looked at Sasuke and his eyes told Sasuke to hide. Although Sasuke would normally want to fight to test his abilities, he realised that his teacher is just protecting him and Sasuke would just be in his way. Sasuke obeyed.

The two Sound Jounins run up to Maki. The real Maki also charged at the oncoming ninjas with his clones by his side. Maki reached first and tried to punch the Sound ninja on his right on the face but the Sound ninja avoided it and attempts to plunge his kunai into Maki. However, Maki's clone intervened and sent a powerful kick to the Sound ninjas face, which resulted in the Sound Jounin falling on his back, his nose bleeding.

The other Sound Jounin fought against Maki's clone and so far, Maki's clone is far superior in Taijutsu. The Sound Jounin was so caught up in battle that he never noticed the real Maki appearing on the Sound Jounin's left. Maki completed his seals.

"Fire release! Multiple fireballs techinque!" **(A/N: I forgot the translation so I made this up. It is supposed to be for 'Housenka no jutsu')**

Multiple fireballs came out of Maki's mouth and what surprised the Sound ninja was that the fireballs were not aimed at him. The fireballs were aimed behind him and then he found out why. Maki was aiming his technique on the Sand ninja and the Sand ninja, not expecting to be aimed at since he has not yet participated in the fight, was hit by all six fireballs. The Sand Chuunin died on the spot.

The Sound Jounin was so surprised that Maki's clone used this opportunity to land a blow to the Sound Jounin's gut. The Sound Jounin dropped to his knees, coughing out blood but the next thing he knew was a cold metal slicing the back of his neck.

Maki looked around and there were only two Sound Jounins left. The Sound Jounin that Maki's clone kicked earlier on the nose was nowhere to be seen. Maki turned to look behind him and saw a Sound Jounin forming seals. Maki recognised the first seal and it was a lightning technique.

"Lightning release! Fury's wrath!"

A lightning bolt appeared from the palm of the Sound ninja and Maki charged against the Sound Jounin. The Sound Jounin was surprised that Maki chose to do this, to run up to him without any sort of defence. The Sound Jounin threw the lightning bolt at Maki and just as the real Maki was about to be hit, Maki's clone sacrificed himself and the Sound Jounin now realised why Maki did this. Since the Sound Jounin would be expecting Maki to be hit, he would not be coming up of any sort of counter-attack. Now that the clone took the blow and Maki is still nearing him, the Sound Jounin is too surprised to do anything.

Maki reached the Sound Jounin and grabbed the Sound ninja by the vest and threw him into the air. The remaining clone of Maki jumped into the air and delivered a flying kick on the Sound Jounin's chest. As the Sound Jounin is flying in the air, Maki formed seals to finish off the Sound Jounin.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

The three Gennins watched in awe as Maki finished off four ninjas in one go. And not to mention that the three of them were actually Jounins. Even though Maki himself is a Jounin, to actually defeat them that easily was impressive. Maki looked at Naruto in the eye and Naruto understood it.

"Come on you guys, our mission begins now." Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded but Sakura looked confused, "What mission?"

"We'll explain later," Sasuke assured and started looking around, "We have to find the three Sand Gennins first."

"Right. Where are they?" Naruto asked.

Sakura pointed at the three figures jumping over the stadium's wall, "Is that them?"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at where she was pointing and sure enough, they found the female Sand Gennin and the puppet ninja carrying the red haired ninja. That's their target.

"That's them! Come on! We'll explain to you the mission on the way!" Naruto ordered and the three Gennins nodded as they followed Naruto.

Maki continued to watch them until they finally jumped over the wall of the stadium. They're on their own now and although Maki had said that this might have been the last time he sees them, he hoped it was not. Maki took out a brand new custom kunai and looked around the stadium. That was when Kakashi appeared next to him, with his mask filled with blood.

"Where are they going?" Kakashi asked, referring to Naruto.

"I gave them a mission."

"You sure they'll be alright?" Kakashi asked as he took out a new kunai also.

"I hope so. But their missions is important," Maki said, looking around the stadium, "As a matter of fact, if they succeed in their mission, the invasion of Konoha just might fail for the Sound and Sand."

Kakashi looked at Maki, "So you sent them on a mission to investigate about Gaara?"

Maki nodded and Kakashi did not ask any more questions. Maki looked at Kakashi and found something odd. "Where's Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru's dad appeared and took him. He said he's going to personally handle Shikamaru himself." Kakashi replied.

"Alright. Looks like we're free to take care of things here." Maki said, smiling.

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask as he jumped into the arena of the stadium while forming seals. Maki laughed and he also formed his famous seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Four Maki's appeared and the five of them joined Kakashi as they are prepared to fight for their lives while they defend the village that they love so much. Maki took out a brand new custom kunai and went head on against two Sound Chuunin just as they were about to finish off a Konoha Chuunin. Maki looked at the Sound Chuunin in the eye and with his four clones, showed them why he is called the Replicator.

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In the eastern part of Konoha, the place is secured. There were no longer any Sound or Sand ninjas in the area. What was even better was that there only three casualties for Konoha and none of them were of the elite Jounins. As a matter of fact, the elite Jounins didn't even break a sweat in taking care of them.

Gai was leaning on a wall when he spotted something familiar approaching him. It was Kakashi's little summon dog, Pakkun.

"Gai," the dog said, "Kakashi needs your help at the stadium!"

"Our help?" Gai said in disbelief, "I thought they have several ANBU's with them there."

"They were in disguise. Kakashi and the others are overwhelmed!" Pakkun said with urgency.

"Yosh!" Gai said, his eyes burning with fire, "Then I shall go help him with the power of youth!"

"Just shut up…" Asuma said as he lighted his cigarette, "Come on, let's go and support Kakashi's area."

With that, almost all of the elite Jounins started to make their way to the stadium with Pakkun leading the way. It looks like after thirty minutes of the invasion, order is finally coming into Konoha. Although there was panic everywhere in Konoha, the defenders of Konoha are restoring order, slowly.


	31. The enemy advances

**Hei guys, sorry for the delay.**

**Erm, I apologise that this chapter is mainly focused on the fight's in the stadium. The next chapter will then focus on Naruto's group and… well, once you read this chapter, a one-one-one battle. Hope you enjoy and please review. =)**

CHAPTER 31: THE ENEMY ADVANCES

There were dead bodies in the streets of Konoha, comprised of dead civilians, Sound, Sand and Konoha ninjas. Not all died though. Some were badly wounded with major cuts and wounds on their bodies and those that got caught in the blast of the explosions earlier in the invasion were all injured badly. Civilians that are not used to these kinds of pain are screaming in agony, and there just weren't enough medic-nins to heal all of the wounded.

Throughout Konoha, fighting can be seen among the leaf defenders against the Sound and Sand ninjas. Although the leaf ninjas are greatly outnumbered and also at the same time not prepared, most of the leaf ninjas that are left here are highly skilled. Also, the ANBU black ops are in action. These covert ninjas are normally assigned to S-rank missions so fighting mere Jounins should not be difficult.

A few miles from the stadium, three Gennins of the leaf are currently running in the streets of Konoha, careful to avoid from stepping on the dead bodies or injured ninjas lying on the streets. It would have been faster for them to use the rooftops but knowing that they might get caught in a fight that they do not want to be involved in, it would be much more stealthier to use the streets.

Sasuke is leading the team since when it came to alertness, Sasuke is for the job. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for Sasuke grabbing Naruto from the earth technique used by the Rock ninja in their B-rank mission in the country of the Light, Naruto would no longer be alive. Naruto and Sasuke may be equals, but Sasuke is much more alert than Naruto.

The three of them entered a building as two Sand Jounins jumped across a rooftop. The Jounins did not even sense any of the leaf Gennins presence and that is probably because they are busy with fighting the leaf ninjas.

"So just what exactly is our mission?" Sakura asked since they were now in a safe location.

Naruto decided to be the one to explain, "Maki-sensei said this is an A-rank mission. We have to search and stop the three Sand Gennins that entered up to the third round in the Chuunin exam."

"Why?"

"We're not sure," Sasuke was the one that answered now, "But whatever the reason, we have to stop them."

Sakura looked at the Uchiha, "Any specific reasons."

"From what Maki-sensei told us, the Sand Gennin known as Gaara may be an essential key to the invasion, and with him out of the picture, there just might be a chance that we can live through this day. But to be sure, we need Gaara out of the picture." Sasuke explained. Naruto simply nodded to back up Sasuke's story.

Naruto took a peek from the window and when Naruto saw that the Jounins were out of sight, they got out of their hiding place and resumed their search for the three Sand Gennins.

"It's kind of difficult to search for them when we're on ground level." Sakura commented as they turned left and headed towards the housing areas of Konoha.

"We don't have much of a choice," Sasuke replied without looking back, "We can't risk getting seen and fighting enemy ninjas. Not without any Jounins with us."

"He's right, Sakura-Chan," Naruto said as he looked up to make sure there were no enemy ninjas jumping above them, "We'll just have to look for them on ground level."

Sakura could not argue with logic and the three continued running in the empty streets of Konoha. There were a few occasions when they had to hide from enemy ninjas but they were never caught once. They could not risk getting caught. Although Sasuke and Naruto are quite confident they can take out at least one Jounin, they did not want to take that risk of wasting stamina and chakra and especially, time.

After running for thirty minutes, the three ninjas finally reached a familiar place without realising how they got there. They were in front of the ninja's training academy and the place looks absolutely deserted. Naruto had a lot of good memories of this place and he remembered his favourite teacher, Iruka-sensei. Naruto remembered the last time he spoke to Iruka was when he found out about the demon living within him. Naruto had never spoken to him after that. There were the occasional waves and greetings, but they never stopped for a chat before. Naruto started to get worried about Iruka, wondering if he's okay in the invasion.

"What are you thinking about?" Sakura asked in a concern voice.

Naruto was startled and looked at Sakura. He shook his head, smiling, "Nothing. Just old memories."

"This place does brings back memories, doesn't it?" Sakura asked, patting Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto nodded.

Sasuke sighed softly at himself. Sometimes the two talk to each other so much that they don't even realise that Sasuke is here with them. He's not used to having his comrade talking with a loved one like that.

"Come on," Sasuke said, turning around, "Let's continue…"

"Hei," Sakura interrupted, looking at the academy, "Isn't that one of them?"

"What?" Naruto and Sasuke looked at where she was looking at and on the second floor of the academy, they could see through a window the blonde female Gennin of the Sand supporting the red-haired ninja. The black puppeteer could not be seen.

"Come on," Naruto urged, taking out his kunai and running towards the entrance of the academy, "Let's get to them before they try to escape again."

Normally Sasuke would be pissed that Naruto would go charge at the enemy so carelessly like that without using stealth. After all, stealth is part of being a ninja but since they are in the middle of a battle, Sasuke thought nothing of using stealth. He activated his Sharingan and followed Naruto.

Sakura watched the two male ninjas of team seven running ahead of her so enthusiastically. Normally when it came to fighting, she and her team mates would take things really seriously since their lives are involved. But the way Sasuke and Naruto are acting, it was as if it was a competition between them. Sakura shook her head and sighed. What she also couldn't believe was that Sasuke had a smile on his face as he followed Naruto. Has Naruto really changed Sasuke that much that Sasuke is no longer the guy that always broods?

Sakura shook those thoughts out of her head and followed her new team mates. They are going to have to beat the Sand Gennins and from she has heard, they have never been beaten. While she ran towards the academy, she touched her forehead protector. It used to be her father's one, given by her uncle. She's going to make her father and Konoha proud.

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"Fire release! Ring of destruction!"

Maki yelled as he jumped back from the four Sound ninjas he were fighting with. The Sound ninjas finally dispelled Maki's clone and looked at the real Maki only to find that they have been surrounded by a red flame. This was part of the technique. The flame then grew in height and slowly, the flame moved to the centre. The Sound ninjas tried to use an earth technique to stop it but the ninja was too slow in completing the seal and the four ninjas burnt to their death.

Maki smirked and looked to his right. A Sand ninja had targeted him and Maki faced him. His custom kunai is filled with red blood on it. Maki still has twenty-two of his custom kunai's and the current custom kunai he has have been drenched with far too many different blood. The enemy ninja formed seals.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Maki smirked, familiar with this fire technique. The enemy ninja blew out a large fireball towards Maki, about ten metres in diameter. Although the size is pretty impressive, Maki's one was far more powerful. Maki took out a scroll his Jounin's vest pocket and opened the scroll. Maki then jumped towards the fireball with the scroll and when the fireball was just a few inches away, Maki held the scroll in front of him. The fireball then got sucked into the scroll and the scroll burst into flames.

The enemy did not expect that and quickly started forming seals but Maki would not allow it. With incredible speed, Maki threw his custom kunai and it plunged deep into the enemy's neck, killing the enemy ninja instantly. Maki ran to the dead ninja and took out his custom kunai. It is covered with blood all over the kunai, even on the handle.

As for Kakashi, he is having absolutely no trouble at all with his battles. They are all so easy, either fighting him one on one or ganging up on him but all of their attempts were pretty much useless. With his Sharingan, Kakashi can easily predict his enemy's movements and form a counter-attack before they even initiated their attack.

However, reinforcement has still not yet arrived and the stadium is getting swamped by enemy ninjas. Majority of them are now actually aiming for Kakashi and Maki since these two are the only ninjas that seem to be unstoppable.

Two elite Sand Jounins targeted Maki and Maki could feel their killer intent. Maki got into a defensive stance, gripping his custom kunai tightly. The first Sand Jounin went head on and Maki welcomed the attack. The two kunai's met, their eyes just a few inches away from one another. Maki took this opportunity to kick the Sand Jounin in the gut, sending him a few feet away. The other Sand Jounin quickly took the opportunity to attack Maki, throwing several shurikens at Maki.

Maki was surprised by the sheer speed of the shurikens. Maki barely dodged the attack and a couple of strands of pink hair was cut off. Maki looked at the second Sand Jounin and he can tell that this one is much more experienced than the other. Maki quickly formed his famous seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Three clones of Maki were created and just on time, as the first Sand Jounin that attacked Maki advanced from behind. One of Maki's clones intercepted the attack by punching the Sand Jounin square on the cheek, sending him crashing to a wall. The second Sand Jounin quickly formed seals. Maki and his clones took the opportunity to charge forward.

"Wind release! Air bullet!"

Maki recognised this technique. It is a pretty common air technique but the power of the bullet is powerful and fast. It easily destroyed one of Maki's clones but Maki finally reached the Sand Jounin. The first one to reach the Jounin was one of Maki's clone and the clone attempted to slash the Jounin's neck, but the Sand Jounin ducked and kicked the clone in the gut, dispelling the clone.

The other two clones of Maki threw one kunai at the Sand Jounin but the Jounin jumped into the air. Maki expected this as he formed seals.

"Fire release! Royal path technique!"

Maki blew out a bullet-shaped fire and the bullet was accompanied by a large amount of flame on the sides of the bullet. This fire technique covers a large area and would be quite impossible to escape. The Sand Jounin was in the air and saw the bullet shaped fire coming at him. Knowing that he could not escape, he crossed his arms in an 'X' shape to try reduce the damage. It did not help much.

The bullet-shaped fire blasted on the Jounin's arms and the flame on the side of the bullet burnt the Jounin's vest, leaving a few burnt marks on the body. The Sand Jounin landed on his feet as he clutched his left arm. It was bleeding badly and it seems that his left hand suffered the most. The Sand Jounin was so caught up in his injuries he never noticed one of Maki's clone behind him. The clone grabbed the Jounin from behind tightly while Maki's second clone appeared before him and chopped off the Jounin's head.

Maki was now panting lightly from using too much chakra. He knew that he is beginning to reach his limits. He has been using too many fire techniques and not to mention creating shadow clones but there were still no elite Jounins yet.

Kakashi was faring much better than his pink haired companion. He has been defeating his opponents by hand-to-hand combat and his enemies were stupid enough to not fight him from far. Kakashi's chakra would have been depleted by now if he had been using techniques after techniques but since the Sound and Sand ninjas have been fighting with him in Taijutsu, the only thing that was depleting Kakashi's chakra is his use of the Sharingan.

"Die you bastard!" A Sand Chuunin shouted as he tried to stab Kakashi from the back.

Kakashi easily avoided it and quickly formed two seals.

"Air disorder!"

Kakashi's right fist was engulfed with some white chakra and Kakashi punched the Sand Chuunin on his ribs. The Sand Chuunin screamed in pain and clutched the place where he was hit. The Chuunin dropped on his back, still screaming in pain. The technique Kakashi used was a simple Wind technique that increases the punch by three times. The way Kakashi used it must have broken the Sand ninja's ribs.

Kakashi turned behind and saw four ninjas that have targeted Maki. Maki was getting overwhelmed and won't be able to keep up. The reason why Maki was so far able to not receive much injuries was due to the enemy's confusion of his shadow clones but the four ninjas seemed to be experienced ninjas and knew which was the real one.

Maki was too pre-occupied fighting two Sound Jounins. Kakashi knew why they were targeting Maki. The reason why the stadium has not fallen to enemy's hands was because of the large amount of shadow clones still present here. As long as Maki, the source, continues creating them, the number will never stop.

The four ninjas lunged at Maki, all four forming seals prepared to cast on Maki. Maki has already defeated one of the Sound Jounin but Kakashi can tell that Maki has no idea that four ninjas are behind him. With his Sharingan, Kakashi was able to create seals that were three times faster than the four enemy ninjas that are targeting Maki.

"Lightning release! Fingers of destruction!"

Maki heard that as he slashed the Sound Jounin's chest, injuring the Sound Jounin to stop him from battle. Maki looked at his left and he can see Kakashi using the lightning technique behind Maki. Maki looked behind him to find four ninjas falling to the ground, dead. Maki remembered that lightning technique the Rock ninja used when in his mission at the country of the Light with Naruto.

Maki simply nodded to say his thanks to Kakashi. Kakashi did not return it as he was already busy fighting other ninjas. Maki clenched his bloodied custom kunai tightly and sensed seven chakra presence behind him. Maki looked behind him and sure enough, about four Sand ninjas and three Sound ninjas coming after him. Maki quickly formed a simple seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Two puff's of smoke appeared by Maki's side and without further command, the two clones went ahead of Maki to engage the enemy. On the other hand, the real Maki started forming seals. The two clones were able to distract the seven ninjas but it seems that the seven ninjas have good team work, probably experienced Jounins.

"Fire release! Canyon blast techinque!"

Maki blew his technique to the ground and the fire went straight at the seven enemy ninjas. A line of fire was formed and from that line, about every three meters, fire keeps bursting out of the line of fire, like a volcano. This fire technique is devastating but is rarely successful since the technique gives the enemy time to avoid it, which is pretty much the case over here. However, that was part of Maki's plan. Once the enemies spread out, he formed another set of seals.

"Fire release! Hell's explosion!"

Maki gathered a large amount of chakra to his throat, jumped into the air and blew out an extremely large fireball, about twenty-five meters in diameter. The ball went to the centre of the stadium and those that recognise this technique, either ran away or prepared to use a defensive technique. Kakashi himself hid behind a pillar. The large fireball at last exploded, sending fireballs everywhere.

The ninjas that never witnessed this technique were caught by surprise. There were so many fireballs that there was no doubt that they were easily hit and the burns were severe. It is said that just two fireballs hit directly is enough to kill you. There were screams everywhere and when the technique was finally over, all of the ninjas got out of their hiding place. There were several burnt bodies on the ground, dead. Maki was panting heavily now.

The technique Maki used was put to good use. After all, it was meant to cover a large area and large amount of enemy ninjas. But the price Maki paid for that was his chakra. He only has about a quarter of his chakra. Although that may seem plenty, it won't be enough to help him last throughout the invasion.

About five Sand ninjas glared at Maki and decided to attack him. This time, Kakashi could not help his comrade as he was pre-occupied himself with seven ninjas. It looks like the ratio was getting larger. There were too many enemy ninjas now, and most of the Konoha ninjas in the stadium, including ANBU, were either dead or unable to fight anymore due to injuries or depleted chakra.

Maki look at the five ninjas coming at him and he had to conserve his chakra so he decided to not use any high level fire techniques. Maki still had twenty-two of his custom kunai's and quickly threw it at the five oncoming ninjas. One of them hit the target in the neck, killing the ninja instantly while the other got the male ninja in the left thigh. One down, four to go. Two clones of Maki were created but the ninjas expected this, easily dispelling the first clone. However, before the second clone was dispelled, it took the life of one of the ninjas by slicing the ninja's neck.

Maki jumped back and quickly got into a defensive stance as the three enemy ninjas approached the replicator. Before any of the ninjas even attacked, a figure appeared right in front of Maki. The new comer quickly took out the ninja in the centre of three with a powerful kick, sending the ninja crashing to the stadium's wall, leaving a large hole in the wall. The second ninja reacted quickly, attempting to slice the Konoha Jounin in the neck but the new-comer was quick. He ducked and delivered another powerful kick to the man's mid-section, taking the breath out of him. The enemy ninja dropped to his knees and lost consciousness. The third ninja tried to escape but the new-comer quickly got in front of him and delivered two blows to the man's face, knocking him out easily. After defeating the man, the new-comer looked at Maki.

"I have never seen you in such a bad condition, Maki." The elite Jounin said.

Maki was panting heavily but was able to smile, "What took you guys so long?"

Gai smiled, patting Maki's right shoulder, "We had some trouble on the way here."

Maki looked around him and he can see the stadium is now filled with elite Jounins, some fighting with the enemy in the stands while others in the arena close to where Gai and Maki are currently standing. He also recognised a few of the elite Jounins. Maki looked at the roof and he can see three squads of ANBU entering the stadium and even one squad of ANBU black opts. That should be enough for reinforcement.

Gai suddenly disappeared and engaged with a Sand Jounin in Taijutsu. Maki knew that Gai should be able to win hands down. Maki can also see that Kakashi was now much more relaxed, and Maki couldn't blame him. Maki jumped to the stands and surveyed his surroundings. Although reinforcement has arrived, the stadium is still pretty much overwhelmed with enemy ninjas. Maki wondered how he and Kakashi were able to hold the line.

Maki was also relieved that even though the stadium was pretty damaged, none of the villagers were hurt. He also spotted his student, Ino asleep. Maki frowned. He thought Ino noticed the genjutsu but then again, he preferred her asleep since she would be safer that way.

"Hei, Maki," A voice called out but Maki recognised it as the Wind Jounin, Asuma, "Sorry we're late."

Maki looked at Asuma and he can see his chakra blade filled with blood, "It's alright. We were lucky to hold the line."

Asuma nodded, "And a good thing to. If the enemy gained this position, it would be more difficult to get to Hokage-sama."

Maki remembered that the Hokage being caught by the Kazekage. He looked at the roof and he can see that the roof now has some sort of purple shield holding two ninjas in it, locked in a fierce battle. Maki prayed that the Hokage will make it through.

"How's the condition of the village?" Maki asked as he watched an ANBU ninja killing a Sand Chuunin with his katana.

"Pretty bad. The west area of Konoha is pretty much like here but several ANBU squads are headed that way for reinforcement. The eastern area is the safest area while the north is pretty good too. The gate and the ninjas on the walls are keeping the ninjas out."

"What about…" Maki started to ask but never finished got to finish his sentence.

All of the ninjas in the stadium could hear a loud crash. It was as if something broke through and it must have been devastating because the stadium actually felt tremors for a second or two. Maki and Asuma jumped up to the roof to investigate what was going on.

"What the hell was that?" Maki said, looking around Konoha. He can see thick black smoke rising from the south of Konoha.

"Oh, shit…" Asuma mumbled. Maki followed his gaze and it was towards the northern side of Konoha. Maki's eyes widened in shock as he saw what happened. No wonder they could hear something broken through, even from the stadium. From where Maki and Asuma were standing, they could see that the gigantic gates of Konoha was broken through and giant snakes were destroying the northern area.

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"What the hell do we do?" A Konoha Chuunin on the wall shouted as he watched the giant snake smashed it's head on a building, crushing it to rubbles.

None replied the Chuunin's answer as the other Konoha shinobi's try to attack the snake but many were unsuccessful. The explosion tags were ignored by the snake and the only thing that seem to injure the snake were extremely high level techniques, which tire the Konoha shinobi since they have been fighting with both Sound and Sand ninjas earlier.

An ANBU captain kneeled on one of his knees on a rooftop, observing the snake destroying buildings and fighting off the ninjas that dared attacked it. The two ANBU ninjas behind him awaited orders. Finally, the ANBU captain made a couple of hand gestures which only ANBU ninjas understood. The two ANBU ninjas obeyed without further question.

The two ANBU landed on the head of the snake and stabbed the head with their katana's. The snake tried to shake the ANBU off but the ANBU jumped off the head on their own. The ANBU captain now jumped off the rooftop while doing a set of seals. If the ANBU captain thought right, this should be able to injure the snake. The large snake summon however noticed the ANBU captain and quickly smashed it's head on the captain, sending him crashing through a building.

The other Konoha shinobi's were busy fighting off the incoming Sound and Sand ninjas. Now that the gates were destroyed, the Sound and Sand ninjas are free to enter Konoha. They just have to pass through the guards, which shouldn't be too difficult. Besides, most of them are still trying to stop the summon but it is useless.

"Charge forward! Kill those that stand in your path and…" A sound Jounin ordered but an ANBU ninja appeared behind him and stabbed the Jounin in the back with his katana, silencing the Jounin.

"Not on my watch!" The ANBU hissed as he cruelly took out the katana from the dead body. Several shurikens were tossed at him and the ANBU ninja used the dead Sound Jounin as a cover.

The northern area of Konoha is now overwhelmed by Sound and Sand ninjas and they are going to need reinforcement. Luckily for them, several ANBU squads have arrived but that won't be enough. The snake summon is taking out Konoha shinobi's fast and until that snake is stopped, the northern area of Konoha will fall to enemy's hands.

"We need reinforcement!" A Konoha Jounin yelled as he cast an Earth technique on a couple of Sand ninjas.

An ANBU ninja was able to finish off two Sound Chuunin but his left shoulder is badly wounded. He turned to his captain, "What about Kakashi-san? He's a former ANBU captain and…"

"He's busy defending the stadium," The ANBU captain yelled back, "We just have to do the best we can on our own!"

Far from the northern area of Konoha where the gates were destroyed, 'The Replicator' and Asuma watched in horror as the Konoha defenders desperately try to stop the slaughter.

"Damn it," Asuma cursed, "What do we do?"

Maki himself is lost for words. He looked back at the stadium and he can see that the Konoha ninjas here are doing fine. It won't really make much of a difference if he go help the northern area. They need his help. He turns to look at Asuma in the eyes.

"Can you handle things here without me?" Maki asked seriously.

Asuma nodded, "We have Kakashi and other elite Jounins here. But what do you plan to do?"

Maki stared at the large snake, "I'm going to help the ninjas over there."

"What can you do?" Asuma questioned, stepping in front of Maki to block his path, "We need you here. You going there is on a suicide mission. None of us can stop a large summon like that."

"What about Ibiki?" Maki asked.

Asuma thought for a second and then replied, "He has a few techniques that should be able to slow down a large summon like that, but he won't stop it. To beat a summon, we need a summon."

Without replying to the Wind user Jounin, Maki jumped from the roof of the stadium and started to make his way to the destroyed gates of Konoha. He ignored the shouts of Asuma. Maki decided not to tell him. With his current chakra level, he should be able to summon a toad of that size, but after that, he won't be able to fight. But Maki felt he had no choice. After all, that snake summon is killing countless of ninjas lives that could help defend. No, Maki needed to do this.

Maki was so engrossed in trying to get there on time that he never noticed a female Jounin tailing him. As Maki jumped off a building, the female Jounin took her opportunity. She took out her weapon and cast a Wind jutsu on Maki.

Maki could feel the chakra to his left and he turned. The last thing he saw was a gust of wind coming at him. Maki shields himself but he could feel three cuts on his left arm and a small cut on his right thigh. The wind was powerful that it pushed Maki through a wall. Maki ignored the pain on his back. Maki was spinning around in the air from the force and then crashed on a wall and then felt his back hitting something hard. Maki realised it was a pillar and Maki is currently in a sited position, his back on the wall.

Maki groaned in pain, not knowing what happened to him. He's right now in a building, he realised. It seems to be a large hall and Maki realised that this is like a ballroom. Maki then looked at how he got here. It seems that he crashed through a wall, leaving a large hole on the wall. That was when his attacker entered the room. Maki narrowed his eyes, not believing that it was her.

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In the academy, three Gennins cautiously try to locate the other three Sand Gennins that they saw through the window. Naruto opened the door to a classroom but did not find them there. Throughout their search, they could hear ninjas giving commands as they attack one another. They could also hear the screams of the dying.

"Come on," Sakura called out, "Let's check the third floor."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded and followed the girl as they climbed the steps. When they reached the third floor, they turned right and were now in a corridor. That was when they spotted a ninja in black, as if expecting them. They recognised him as the puppet Gennin.

"It took you guys long enough." Kankurou commented.

"Where's Gaara?" Naruto asked, releasing his killing intent.

Kankurou chuckled, "You will have to pass through me to get to him."

"I'll take care of him…" Sasuke said, stepping ahead of his two comrades and taking out a kunai.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, "We can beat him together."

Sasuke shook his head, never taking his eyes off Kankurou, "No, there is no time. Every second counts and if Maki-sensei said Gaara is the key to this invasion, we have to find him as soon as possible."

Naruto and Sakura did not say anything but they finally nodded and ran into a classroom. Kankurou made no attempt to try and stop them. Naruto opened a window and the two placed chakra to their feet as they ran on the school's wall. They were about to enter through another window when they spotted Temari carrying Gaara sprinting away from the academy.

"Over there!" Naruto said as he jumped off the wall followed by Sakura.

Kankurou was pretty excited to face the young Uchiha. Although he did not watch the match between Shino and Sasuke, he knows that Sasuke is from the proud clan of the Uchiha and just having the idea of finally facing an Uchiha sent shivers through his spine. Kankurou unveiled his puppet while Sasuke revealed the Sharingan.

"Let's just see how good you are." Kankurou said, smiling wickedly.

Sasuke made no reply as he charged forward at the puppeteer. It is time to show these outsiders what an Uchiha is made of.

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In a ballroom, two ninjas are now facing each other. Although in the outside of Konoha, ninjas are battling with one another, these two are just looking at each other, eye to eye. Maki knew that the moment the Sand were allied with Sound that he would have to face her.

"Cat got your tongue?" Himura questioned as she placed her hands on her hips as if taunting him.

Maki shook his head, "So is this how we end our friendship? In a fight to the death?"

Himura shrugged, "I guess so…"

Maki shook his head once more in disbelief. Because of this war, he has to fight his first and only love but his love for Konoha is in a much higher priority. Maki looked at Himura once more. This was not the woman he loved. The Himura he knew was kind and gentle but all Maki sees now is a woman that wants his blood.

Maki took out his last chakra pill and swallowed it. The pill was able to restore about three quarters of his chakra, but that would be enough to take her out and perhaps summon a toad large enough to take out the snake. Although Maki knew it was useless, Maki hoped that the 'Toad Sannin' would return to Konoha today, if not, Konoha will fall. Maki took out a brand new custom kunai.

Himura snickered and got into a defensive stance with her large fan as a shield, "Let's see how good the 'Replicator' really is…"

"Let's see what you have got, Himura-Chan and I will show you why you should not have messed with Konoha shinobi's!" Maki said with killing intent in his voice.


	32. It has come to this

**Alright guys, really sorry for the delay. I think it's been a month since I last updated. So sorry. This chapter is quite long I think. Well, not that long. It's 1,000 words extra than my previous chapters I believe. **

**Well, nothing much to say. Just please review and I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. **

**Oh, and starting from now, I will be giving you guys the title of the next chapter. So here it is! Next chapter, "Konoha's reinforcement"**

CHAPTER 32: IT HAS COME TO THIS

In the village of Konoha, the fight between the defenders and the foreign ninjas continue to rage on. The villagers continue to search for places to hide to try to not get in the way in the fights. Other villagers were being evacuated to the mountains where the Hokage monuments are. It is used as an emergency hiding spot for villagers to use when Konoha is under attack, which is precisely why they are there right now.

In charge of these villagers is the Jounin specialist Mitarashi Anko and also Umino Iruka whom is in charge of the children of the academy. The ANBU were able to distract enemy ninjas when they Anko and Iruka were trying to get the civilians to the mountains. Even in the worse-case scenario, Anko can hold them off while Iruka would lead the citizens. But they are safe now.

"So what do we do now, Anko-san?" Iruka asked as he watched the children sitting on the cold floor, some crying. Iruka was more concerned of the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. He was crying and his friends were trying to console him. After all, his grandfather is the Hokage and Konohamaru knew that his grandfather is in charge of defending Konoha.

Anko shrugged, "We will just have to wait. But if everything goes according to plan, the three step procedure should be used in twenty minutes or so."

"Three-step procedure?"

"It's an emergency defence system Konoha created," Anko explained, looking at the Chuunin now, "Only elite Jounins and the ANBU forces are told of this. The first step is to defend the village and gather all civilians. Step two, evacuate the villagers to the monuments, which is where we are."

"So what's the third step?"

Anko smiled as she looked at all of the worried expressions on the villagers, "Step three, the ANBU black opts will strike back… Together."

Iruka nodded slowly. The ANBU black opts, highly skilled ninjas that receive the most secretive and most difficult missions of all. They work only for the Hokage and the two advisors and will not listen to anybody's orders. They are so secretive that Iruka himself has never seen one. But he has heard from Kakashi and other elite Jounins that they have seen them. Iruka assumed that only the elite Jounins are comparable to the ANBU black opts.

Anko played with her kunai as she stood guard, making sure that no Sand or Sound ninja had followed them. Anko is an elite Jounin herself and was an apprentice to one of the Snake Sannin, so she could take care of a couple of ninjas. Although she would like very much to join in the fun and defend the village, orders are orders and she will not disobey them.

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Sasuke watched with his Sharingan as Kankurou's puppet continued to circle around him, making Sasuke wondering when was Kankurou going to strike and where. Sasuke knew that a puppeteer uses chakra strings to control the puppet, so the more time Kankurou wastes, the more chakra he is wasting. The chakra string will continue to consume chakra, just like his Sharingan, but at a much faster rate. Sasuke gripped his kunai tightly in the defensive stance, adrenaline pumped into his body to prepare himself.

Kankurou was watching Sasuke's reactions intently. He could see that Sasuke must have read some information on him because Sasuke was solely concentrating on the puppet and not on him. Normally, his opponents would try to attack him and ignore the puppet but not Sasuke. Kankurou's blood boiled from that thought.

Finally, Kankurou gave the first attack, ordering the puppet to attack Sasuke' right side. Sasuke immediately reacted, his kunai prepared to cut the puppet's head to decapitate it. But the puppet suddenly revealed a knife from the palm of it's right hand, purple liquid on the tip of it. Sasuke's eyes widen, realising that the puppet's weapon is filled with poison. Sasuke dodged on time by moving his head to the right only to find that the puppet has taken out another blade from it's left palm to stab Sasuke in the chest.

Sasuke was able to back up on time as the blade was grazed his shirt. Sasuke checked himself for any injuries but there were none. Sasuke sighed in relief and looked into the eyes of the puppeteer.

Kankurou smirked, "So you are aware of the dangers of my puppet?"

"Of course," Sasuke answered, "Just a single scratch and I will be poisoned to my death in a matter of minutes."

"And that is my every intention." Kankurou said and with that, ordered his puppet to attack Sasuke once more. The puppet was coming straight ahead and Sasuke decided to take the chance to form seals.

"Fire release! Mystical bird technique!"

Gathering chakra to his throat, Sasuke released four fireballs, two aimed at the puppet and one aimed at Kankurou. Kankurou easily controlled his puppet to avoid the fireballs and then Kankurou himself avoided the fireballs by jumping to the wall to his right, transferring chakra to his feet to stay on the wall.

Unfortunately for Kankurou, the fire technique was just the distraction that Sasuke needed. Throughout the fight, Sasuke realised that Kankurou is a long-range fighter and he has learned from the academy that long-range fighters are weak when it comes to fighting hand-to-hand combat. Sasuke knew that he needed to distract Kankurou and his puppet and he succeeded. Now, Sasuke is running on the wall, his body in a horizontal position.

With the puppet out of the way, Kankurou is now open to all attacks. Kankurou saw Sasuke coming at him and quickly tries to call for his puppet as fast as he can but it was too late. Sasuke charged up his right fist and gave a thunderous blow to Kankurou's left cheek, a bruise formed on Kankurou's left cheek and blood seeping out of his mouth. Kankurou lands hard on the ground but Sasuke knew that he is going to have to take this opportunity to end the puppeteer.

With a kunai now drawn in Sasuke's right hand, Sasuke jumps off the wall for the finishing blow. Kankurou immediately moved his fingers, commanding the puppet to save him. With Kankurou's low level of Taijutsu, Kankurou stands no chance in fighting the young Uchiha in hand-to-hand combat. Sasuke was about to plunge his knife into Kankurou when the puppet intervened, standing in between Kankurou and Sasuke. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and thanks to the Sharingan, saw what the puppet was about to go. The puppet had it's left arm raised, prepared to slash Sasuke.

Sasuke blocked the attack by kicking the left arm of the puppet away with his leg. Sasuke then delivers a round-house kick to the puppet, sending it far from Kankurou. Now, there was nothing standing between Sasuke and Kankurou and Kankurou had nothing but fear in his eyes.

"Any last words?" Sasuke sneered, playing with his kunai.

Kankurou made no reply as he moved his chakra string. The puppet raised it's right arm and from it's wrist, it shot a small black ball towards Sasuke. Although the ball looks practically harmless, Sasuke was not willing to take the risk. Sasuke jumped back and the black ball crashed on the wall, releasing large amount of thick, purple smoke.

'A poison bomb?' Sasuke thought as he covered his mouth with his left arm, coughing a little. Sasuke knew he inhaled a small amount of poison but hoped it would not affect him.

Kankurou was safe now, now safely hidden in a classroom. He quickly commanded his puppet to attack Sasuke. With the smoke all around Sasuke, Sasuke was completely blinded by anything around him. Sasuke knew it was pointless now to rely on his Sharingan. He relied on his other senses, most particularly, his hearing and it paid off. He could hear the puppet making some noise and the noise was getting louder and louder. Sasuke knew that the puppet was coming at him and it was from the front.

Sasuke backed off, and at the right moment as the puppet appeared, nearly cutting Sasuke with the poisonous blade hidden in the puppet. Sasuke jumped back and he looked at the puppet. Sasuke could not see where Kankurou is and cursed. There was no point in fighting the puppet since the puppet cannot be defeated until the puppeteer is defeated. Sasuke sighed and got into a defensive stance, making sure that he find Kankurou as soon as possible.

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Flashback

In the cemetery of Konoha, a teenaged pink haired Chuunin watched from the side as they continued to shovel the earth into the pit where they have just buried the fallen ninja. Maki was dressed in black, as are the other people attending the funeral are dressed. Majority of the people attending this funeral were ninjas from the Nara clan and that was to be expected. After all, the prodigy of the Nara was being buried right now, Nara Kawada.

Although Maki never liked him, Kawada was a talented ninja and his death will be a loss to Konoha. Kawada had fallen in the recent B-rank mission with his team by some missing ninjas that attacked their group on the way back to Konoha. Kawada stayed back so that his team could retreat and when they came back with an ANBU squad to look for him, they found Kawada lying on the cold earth, dead. It took a long time to convince Kawada's team mate, Himura, that Kawada was gone.

"Why did he do that?" Maki mumbled, watching the pit being filled with earth, "Why did you have to do something so stupid and cause everyone pain?"

"That's how it is to some Konoha ninjas…" A voice said and Maki turned to look at his older brother.

"What do you mean?"

"Some Konoha ninjas prefer to sacrifice their life rather than sacrificing the team," Hanaki explained, "And it does makes sense, no? If it were not for Kawada, all of the members of team five would have died."

"Yeah," Maki had to agree, but the reason why he did not like the idea was because of Kawada, Himura has left Konoha, "But…"

"Maki," Hanaki said sternly, "You are a Konoha Chuunin. Do not let emotions get in the way. I know that emotion is something that none of us can overcome, but you are letting it control you too much. What Kawada did was heroic to Konoha. He saved two lives and he paid it with his life."

Maki remained silent after that. Maki was really hurt that Himura left Konoha without even saying goodbye to him. He was her best friend and isn't that something to at least stay in Konoha. But it was not to be. Kawada was everything to Himura and with him gone, she no longer has any purpose to stay here.

Maki looked at his older brother. Although they now have almost the same height, it is pretty obvious who is the older one. After all, Hanaki is more mature than Maki. Maki sighed sadly to himself.

End of flashback

Maki looked at Himura with cold, dead eyes. He never liked Kawada but now that he was at a Jounin rank and have matured throughout the years, he knew that what Kawada did was the right thing. He sacrificed his life to save his team and also his girlfriend at the time, Himura.

"Why are you doing this?" Maki asked, ignoring the sound of an explosion outside the ballroom.

"Why?" Himura replied sarcastically, "I have already told you, it is my mission."

"You are betraying Konoha with no sense of guilt? Then what the hell did Kawada die for?!"

Himura narrowed her eyes in anger, "I will forever be grateful for Kawada-kun's sacrifice but I am no longer a Konoha ninja. I just pray that Kawada-kun will forgive me."

Maki could not believe that this was his old friend right in front of him. He gave a weak laugh, "You have really changed, Himura-Chan."

"So you have noticed," Himura gave a weak smile as she got into a defensive stance, her large weapon(**A/N: She is the same type as Temari, a long-range Wind user)** in front of her, prepared to block any attempts that Maki might make.

Himura have already studied everything she needed to know about the pink haired Jounin. She knew of his ways of creating shadow clones and that was why she will have to be extremely careful. She has heard that Maki can throw his custom kunai's so fast that even experienced ninjas can barely see it.

Maki took out a brand new custom kunai into his right hand, gripping it tightly. Maki knew it would be useless to throw it straight at Himura. She will merely block it with her large weapon. He currently has twenty-one custom kunai's left and that will be more than enough to take Himura out.

Maki gave out a battle cry as he charged towards Himura. Himura was a little surprised that Maki would be so careless to charge towards her when he knows nothing of her abilities but she did not show her surprise. Himura took one step back and waved her large fan in a horizontal arc.

"Blade destruction!"

Maki could feel the wind pushing against him but he continued to charge forward. He could feel three cuts on his left leg and one small cut to his cheek but he ignored it. Himura was surprised that Maki withstood the pain and with his current speed, Maki will reach her before she can cast another technique.

She jumped into the air, prepared to use the same technique but Maki would not allow it. He quickly tossed the current custom kunai he was holding at Himura. Himura could barely see the kunai coming at her but she successfully avoided it by moving her head to the right, feeling the kunai fly past her.

'How can he throw the kunai at such incredible speed?' Himura thought. Himura was still in the air and was about to use the 'blade destruction' when Maki quickly formed the simple seal.

"Release!"

Himura could hear a puff of smoke above her. She looked up and sure enough, a clone of Maki appeared. Himura realised that Maki either intended to miss the kunai he threw or he used it as a back-up plan but that did not matter. She now faced two Maki's but all she has to do is hit the clone once and it will be over.

The clone charged it's right foot and when he was close enough to Himura, tried to deliver a blow to Himura's head but she blocked it with her large fan. However, the impact caused Himura fall faster to the ground. Himura was so caught up with the clone, she never realised that the real Maki was waiting for her. When she landed on the ground, she was greeted with a fist on her gut, knocking the air out of her.

Maki felt no pity though. This was not the Himura he knew and as he took his fist back, Maki delivered a kick Himura's left side of the neck. The kick sent Himura to the ground. Himura groaned in pain and when she opened her eyes, Maki grabbed Himura by her Jounin vest, pulling her up. Himura struggled to release the grip of Maki but his grip was too strong. Himura looked down at Maki and saw Maki taking out another custom kunai with his left hand. With Maki still holding her, she can barely dodge or escape.

Himura was saved when several shuriken appeared behind Maki but Maki was alert. He stepped to his left on time, the shuriken passing by him. Maki released the grip on Himura but delivered a kick to her gut, which sent the female Sand Jounin far from Maki, about fifteen metres away from each other. Himura was about to get back to her feet but her attempt failed when Maki's clone appeared and tossed her to a wall, leaving a large crack on the wall.

'Is he this good?' Himura thought, feeling a little blood seeping out of her mouth, 'I can barely keep up with this guy.'

"Himura-san, are you alright?" The Sand Jounin asked. He's the one that interrupted Maki from finishing Himura off.

"You have got no time to ask questions!" Maki yelled as he went for the Sand Jounin, still holding the custom kunai that was meant to finish Himura off.

The Sand Jounin blocked Maki's attack with his kunai and the two backed off. However, Maki's clone went forward and the two were locked to hand-in-hand combat. However, the clone emerged victorious, kneeing the Sand Jounin in the gut and then delivering an upper-cut, which send the Sand Jounin into the air and then landing hard on the ground. Maki turned to look at Himura and she was already out of the wall, but Maki could see she was still recovering from the pain from being tossed to a wall. Maki realised that this was war and although this was a fight between him and Himura, other ninjas could interrupt him. Maki quickly formed a seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Three Maki's appeared and they immediately dispersed, two of them going to the fallen Sand Jounin and the remaining clone stood next to Maki. So right now, there are four clones of Maki and one real one. Himura gritted her teeth as she swung her weapon around her, prepared to give it all.

"Are you alright, comrade?" Himura asked from where she stood.

"I can manage!" The Sand Jounin replied, now holding a kunai in hand, looking at the three clones in front of him.

"Himura-Chan," Maki said smugly, "You have got no time to care for others."

With that, Maki and his clone ran towards Himura, the real Maki with his custom kunai drawn and the clone with a normal kunai. Himura quickly formed three simple seals and waved the large fan, sending a gust of wind.

"Wind release! Air's fury!"

This was the exact technique that Naruto used against Neji earlier today and sure enough, the wind was in the shape of a box. If the box of wind hits Maki, the wounds that it will deliver will be painful and that will distract Maki. Luckily for Maki, he was a Fire element and the weakness of Wind techniques are fire techniques. Maki formed seals while the clone jumped into the air, wrapping an explosion tag on a kunai.

"Fire release! Great dragon technique!"

Maki released a large breath of fire that was in the shape of a dragon. The technique Himura used was easily overwhelmed by the large fire and Himura quickly chakra sprint to her left, barely avoiding the fire technique. Himura then heard a kunai thrown at her and she looked up to find a kunai coming at her. With her large fan, she used it and hit the kunai away, deflecting the kunai.

Maki smirked when Himura did that. Maki's clone had wrapped an explosion tag and hitting it would trigger the explosion tag. Himura also realised her mistake and the tag exploded, leaving a large crater where Himura stood. Thick, black smoke formed and two seconds later, Himura emerged from the smoke, coughing. Maki could see that her Jounin vest was damaged a little but not badly.

Himura clenched her fists in anger. She was about to charge forward when Maki's clone appeared from her left, kicking her on her left, hitting the left side of her ribs. Pain shot through her body but she knew that she had to get rid of the clone fast and with that, she grabbed her large fan and smashed it on the clone, dispelling it instantly. Himura looked at the real Maki only to find him now fighting the Sand Jounin, who was having trouble fighting two other of Maki clones. It looks like the Sand Jounin was able to at least destroy one of Maki's clones.

Maki blocked the Sand Jounin's kunai with his own and delivered a kick to the Sand Jounin's mid-section, which caused the man to grunt in pain, taking a step back. The custom kunai that Maki is currently using has not tasted blood yet, so all Maki needed to do was get one drop of blood and it could result in the death of this Sand Jounin.

Maki's clone appeared from behind the Sand Jounin. The clone combined his two fists by holding them together and then smashed it on the Sand Jounin's back. The Sand Jounin dropped on all fours, coughing out blood. The second clone of Maki appeared and kicked the Sand ninja in the gut, sending him trashing on the ground. The Sand ninja was now ten metres away from Maki as Maki formed seals.

"Fire release! Grand pathway!"

Maki used this technique earlier in the stadium. Maki charged up chakra to his throat and released a medium sized fireball, aimed at the Sand Jounin. The ball was accompanied by large waves of fire, each on the fireball's sides. The Sand Jounin quickly got to his feet and jumped to his right but he was a little too slow, feeling his right arm burnt by the wave. He was able to avoid the fireball but not the wave of fire. His right arm was now burnt badly, and bleeding. He looked at Maki and also formed seals.

"Lightning release! Death blow!"

With his good arm, he aimed his arm, now engulfed in lightning at Maki. Maki started to run, trying to evade the lightning beam as it blasts the ground, rubbles flying all over the place. The Sand Jounin continued to chase Maki with his lightning beam when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. It was one of Maki's clones and the clone gave the Jounin no chance as it sliced the man's neck, killing him instantly and the lightning technique came to an end. The clone released the man and it fell lifelessly to the ground. The clone looked around the ballroom but out of nowhere, three kunai plunged the clone from the right, dispelling it immediately.

The real Maki looked at Himura, who was now standing next to the dead Sand Jounin. Maki could hear the outside of the ballroom, people screaming for their lives while others giving orders. How Maki wanted to be out there to help them but if he was able to beat Himura, whom right now is one of the top Jounin, he will be able to bring down the moral of the Sound and Sand.

"You will pay for this…" Himura said coldly, stepping forward.

"Your move."

Himura immediately reacted, charging forward with her large fan being dragged. Maki and the clone also ran forward and the two soon came face to face. Himura used her large fan to her advantage, swinging it horizontally. The real Maki jumped to avoid it and the clone jumped forward, swinging a fist but Himura avoided and swung her fan, dispelling the clone. The real Maki quickly formed seals.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Maki blew out a large fireball, this time perhaps seventeen metres in diameter. Due to the close distance, Himura barely avoided it as she jumped backwards. Himura had to actually place some chakra to her feet to back off. Her right shoulder received a little burnt but it was bleeding pretty badly. She clutched her wounded shoulder, inspecting the injuries. When she looked back at Maki, the Konoha Jounin was right in front of her and she had to use her large fan to block the kunai swung at her. With the fan now blocking the two of them, Maki jumped overhead. With Maki above Himura, Himura quickly used her fan to smash it on Maki's back, sending crashing to a pillar.

Maki groaned in pain. He never thought that the fan that looked so fragile could be hard as steel. Himura was coming at him and Maki, thinking quickly, threw the custom kunai he was holding. Himura deflected it with her fan and when she reached Maki, she attacked where Maki was, destroying the pillar in the process. Maki had already jumped away.

"That's pretty violent for a woman." Maki commented, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Himura replied and charged forward once more.

Maki knew that if he got hit in the face with that fan, he's going to get incapacitated. Maki looked down on the ground and there he saw his custom kunai that Himura deflected just a few seconds ago. Himura was running straight at him and she obviously did not realise the custom kunai. Maki quickly formed the seal.

"Release!"

A puff of smoke was created in front of Himura, which caught her by surprise. She was now looking into the eyes of the clone and she quickly swung her large fan but the clone jumped and kicked Himura on her right cheek. The kick must have hurt because she spun around two times in the air before landing on the ground. The clone took out a kunai ready to finish Himura off but Himura took out a shuriken and quickly threw it at the clone, dispelling it.

"Fire release! Wave dance technique!"

Maki released a large amount of fire out of his mouth and the fire was moving like waves. From afar, you would think you could go and surf on the wave of fire. Himura looked at the large amount of fire coming at her and she quickly hid behind a pillar. The fire was unable to destroy the pillar and Himura could see the fire passing through her left and right. Gathering her chakra, Himura got out of her hiding place and formed six seals.

"Wind release! Wind of the breeze technique!"

Himura swung her fan, releasing a wave-like wind heading straight for Maki. Maki recognised this wind technique and quickly hid behind a wall for cover. After three seconds, Maki got out of his hiding place only to find Himura in front of him. She swung her weapon, smacking Maki right in the face and while Maki was thrown in to the air, Himura quickly formed seals.

"Wind release! Bleeding force!"

She swung her weapon and a large ball of air went straight at Maki. Himura has just used an A-level Wind technique but she used less chakra so that she would not get hit also since this technique damages in a wide range. The ball hit Maki and it exploded, killing Maki.

"It's over…" Himura mumbled softly, sighing.

"Wrong on that part." A voice said from behind her.

The words shocked Himura and when she turned around, there stood Maki, his hair now no longer in a ponytail. Maki swung his custom kunai and Himura was too slow to react, the kunai scratching Himura on her left arm, blood spilled on the kunai. A shadow clone was instantly created and the real Maki kicked Himura in the gut and the clone delivered a punch to Himura's left cheek, which sent her flying three metres away. Himura dropped her large fan from the punch and the real Maki quickly grabbed it and tossed it to a safe distance. The clone immediately went after Himura and grabbed Himura by the arms, making her stand up and face Maki.

Just as Maki was about to say something, Maki could feel two chakra presence from behind him. Maki grumbled angrily and formed a seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Two puff of smoke appeared by Maki's side and the three Maki now looked behind two, facing two Sound Jounin. Without even saying anything, Maki charged forward, facing the closest Sound Jounin while the two clones went after the other Jounin. Maki took out a brand new custom kunai, leaving Maki with nineteen left.

The Sound Jounin attacked and the real Maki blocked the attack with his kunai, the sound of metal clashing against another echoed in the ballroom. Maki, with his free arm, punched the Jounin on his left eye, and when the Sound Jounin backed up, Maki sliced the man in the neck, killing him and at the same time, creating a shadow clone, which went to help the other two clones that faced the remaining Sound Jounin.

The Sound Jounin was having trouble facing the two clones but was able to dispel one of the clones by slicing the clone in the chest. The remaining clone attempted to slash the Sound ninja's neck but the ninja ducked and sliced the clone's knees, dispelling it. The Sound Jounin grinned, happy that he defeated the clones and he was about to look at the real clone when suddenly, he felt someone grabbed him from behind and the next thing the Sound ninja knew, he could feel a cold, sharp, metal object slicing his neck, taking his life away.

"Stupid confident ninja." Maki commented.

Maki glanced at Himura, who watched the entire thing without even trying to break free from the clone holding her. Himura watched how Maki easily killed the two Sound Jounins that came to help her. Now, she was all that remains and he's going to finish her off in cold blood.

"Any last words?" Maki asked coldly as he started forming seals, doing it in an extremely slow manner.

"I thought I killed you when I used 'Bleeding Force' on you." Himura commented only to hear Maki chuckle.

"The moment I hid behind the pillar, I created a shadow clone and sent it away. When the clone was hit by you, only then did I get out of my hiding place." Maki explained.

Himura was silent. She underestimated Maki too much. She thought that after gathering information on him for two weeks would be enough to beat him but she slacked off. Himura now knew that Maki was on a whole different level from her. She also now knew why he was known as 'The Replicator.' He was able to defeat her easily with the use of his clones and a few times, it confused her on which is which. And just when she finally thought she killed him, it was actually a clone.

Maki finished forming the seals and started concentrating on gathering chakra to his right arm. After two seconds, his right arm was engulfed in red flame. Maki looked at Himura in the eyes and he could see fear in her eyes. She should. Not everyone gets to see him use this high level technique.

"So that's 'Fire Lance?'"

Maki simply smiled as a response. Maki knew that this technique should finish her off and although he could just kill hear easily, Maki wanted to make sure that no medic-nin could heal her. Himura was one of the officials to command in the invasion and with her gone, the invasion would falter a little.

With that, Maki sprinted at Himura, his right arm charged and prepared to finish Himura off. There was nothing that could stop Maki now. Besides, there was one clone to guard the area and nothing would stop him. Maki could see the death of Himura right now and just when he was six metres away, he looked at Himura in the face. She was smiling sadly at him with a tear rolling down her cheek. Maki gasped when he saw that face.

Flashback

In Konoha academy, everyone have just finished doing the shuriken training and most of the students did well. Especially Kawada, the Nara prodigy and as usual, most of the girls were commenting on how good he was. Some of the guys agreed that no one could beat the Nara prodigy and respected him.

However, one female student not only did badly, she actually accidentally scratched herself when she held a shuriken and being a child, broke down to tears. As the class left the academy training grounds, Himura was left by herself, sobbing quietly now. She was not crying because of the pain but because the pain told her that being a ninja, she will have to get used to that, and she did not want that.

"Are you okay?" A voice asked and Himura turned to look at her childhood friend.

"Maki-kun," She choked, "What are you doing here?"

"You were crying and I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"It's nothing. I'm okay."

Maki sighed, kneeling next to her, "You're bad at lying, Himura-Chan."

Himura wanted to tell Maki why she was crying. She wanted to tell him that she did not want to be a ninja. She enrolled into the academy was mainly to follow in Kawada's footsteps. She looked down on the ground once again but she felt Maki placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his smiling face.

"Don't worry, Himura-Chan," Maki assured, "When you do become a ninja one day, I won't let anyone hurt you, alright?"

Himura was shocked, but did not show it. Maki was able to tell that Himura never wanted to be a ninja and that made her almost want to cry again.

"That's a promise, Himura-Chan."

Himura looked at the boy standing in front of her and she knew then that he was not lying. She was able to offer a weak smile at him as a tear rolled down her cheek. Maki simply smiled back.

End of flashback

Maki was currently standing right in front of Himura, his right arm about to deliver the killing blow but that memory caused him to stop. Maki's right arm was shaking from indecisiveness and as he looked at Himura once again, she had a confused expression on her face. Maki gritted his teeth in anger and making his decision, he cancelled his technique. His right arm was now back to normal and Maki now just stood right in front of Himura, looking down on the ground.

"I made a promise," Maki said softly. There was silence for a moment and when he looked at Himura, his eyes looked somehow… angry, "And I don't intend to break it after all these years."

With that, Maki walked away, leaving a stunned Himura. Himura did not really understand what Maki meant by that and when Maki's clone dispelled, she dropped down on her behind, watching the pink haired Jounin jumping out of the ballroom through the hole in the roof.

'I would have broken the promise if I had killed you. Now that I remember that promise, I'm not going to hurt you.' Maki thought to himself. With that, Maki jumped off the rooftop, heading to the north area of Konoha to try and help his comrades.

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About twenty miles from the village of Konoha, two ninjas continue to sprint forward without even resting for a few minutes. They have been jumping from tree to tree for the last three hours and they could not afford to even waste a single second.

Jiraiya looked up in the sky and he could see birds heading in the opposite direction of where they were going. Jiraiya knew that this meant that the invasion has already begun since the birds are trying to avoid conflict by running away from where the fights are.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade called without looking back, "How much further?"

"We should be arriving in ten minutes or so."

"About time."

Jiraiya couldn't agree more. It is time that all three Sannin return back to Konoha. What a reunion it's going to be. Jiraiya couldn't help but smile at the thought of having a reunion and they do this by fighting to the death. A weird kind of reunion this is going to be.

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It took forever for Sasuke to finally find that blasted puppeteer. All Sasuke have been doing throughout the whole ordeal was avoid all the kunai, poison blade and whatever the puppet had in store. Sasuke finally got frustrated and threw the puppet into a classroom and searched for Kankurou. Sasuke finally found him and this is where they are right now, with no sign of that damned puppet.

"Finally, I found you!" Sasuke said as he smiled confidently.

Kankurou narrowed his eyes as he continued moving his fingers, controlling his puppet. He did not know what happened, but he is controlling his puppet to make it come faster. Sasuke saw what he was doing and he knew he will have to act fast. Sasuke quickly started forming seals.

"Lightning edge!"

A ball of lightning formed in Sasuke's right palm and Kankurou backed away, fear in his eyes. Kankurou could tell that if he got hit, he's going to die in Sasuke's hands. Sasuke looked at Kankurou, his Sharingan eyes prepared to deliver the finishing blow as he charged forward. When Sasuke was about to reach Kankurou, something burst through the door, blocking Sasuke's path.

It was the puppet and Sasuke's lightning edge pierced easily though the puppet, destroying the puppet into pieces. Due to the impact with the puppet, Sasuke's lightning edge was reduced, but still there. Sasuke continued charging forward and Kankurou no longer had any puppet to control. He screamed for his life and Sasuke plunged his lightning edge into the puppeteer's gut. Sadly, the lightning edge was not as powerful since the puppet received most of the blow so Kankurou did not suffer the full damage of the lightning edge.

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, panting heavily now. Sasuke now barely have enough chakra to continue fighting and he dropped on his knees, panting heavily. Kankurou dropped on the hard floor, groaning in pain and clutching his stomach, a small hole in his stomach with blood slowly staining his shirt. Sasuke looked at Kankurou and gave a weak smile. The reason why Sasuke was now so tired was not just because he was out of chakra but because Sasuke had inhaled a little of the poison bomb that Kankurou's puppet threw earlier. It looks like the poison has finally started to affect him.

'Damn it,' Sasuke thought as he dropped on the ground on his front, 'Is this the end of me? I can't die yet. My friends… I still have to see them… Naruto….'

Sasuke released his last breath and closed his eyes, losing consciousness. Kankurou looked at Sasuke and he wanted to kill him, but the pain in his gut was too much to bear. He looked outside the window and could even see a single trace of any Sand or Sound ninja. It looks like these two are on their own.

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Naruto and Sakura were now in the training grounds and continued their chase of the female Sand Gennin whom is carrying the person that they were sent to eliminate, Gaara. Naruto and Sakura were now safe from any enemy ninjas since the training grounds was not a place for battle in the invasion.

"Sakura-Chan…" Naruto said suddenly as the two jumped to a tree branch, "Just in case the red haired guy wakes up, I will take him on. You take the girl."

"What?!" Sakura was clearly not pleased with that idea, "I think it would be best we both take that guy down together. He's too dangerous."

"I know," Naruto replied, "Which is why I will take him down. Besides, you don't think the girl will just sit back and let us fight the team mate, do you?"

After a brief moment of silence, Sakura agreed. Naruto grinned back, "Did I tell you that I love you?"

"Not today."

The two smiled and continued on their chase.


	33. Konoha's reinforcement

**Alright, here is the new update guys. Sorry for the delays, hahax. Apologies.**

**Alright then, next chapter will be titled, "Jinchuuriki VS Jinchuuriki."**

**Please review and I hope you enjoy this story.**

CHAPTER 33: KONOHA'S REINFORCEMENT

Haruno Maki gave no mercy to any of the enemy ninjas that stood in his way. Maki is currently in the north area of Konoha, where the giant snake summon is destroying buildings and killing enemy ninjas. Maki already did his best in trying to reinforce this area by creating seven shadow clones but Maki could not risk any more clones as he only has about half of his current chakra level. If Maki had used his 'Fire lance' earlier, he would only have about a quarter left so Maki was fortunate to cancel that technique.

Maki has already used a few of his custom kunai's fighting off enemy ninjas here and Maki currently have fifteen left. The custom kunai he is using right now was already drenched in blood. The north area was not that bad though. Although there was a large summon destroying everything, Ibiki, the Jounin specialist was doing a good job in fighting off the snake. Ibiki cannot defeat the summon but he can distract it for a few more minutes. Maki actually could summon a giant toad but that would cost a lot of his chakra and right now, this area needs his help in eliminating the Sound and Sand ninjas first before Maki could concentrate in fighting the snake.

Two Sand Jounin were now fighting Maki and one Sand Chuunin, whom was a Ninjutsu specialist. Maki avoided the Sand Jounin's kunai by side-stepping to his left and Maki quickly grabbed the Sand ninja's arm and then delivering a kick to the ninja's gut, causing the Sand Jounin to drop to his knees, coughing. Maki saw the other Sand Jounin approaching and Maki, his left hand free, took out a custom kunai. Maki was now using two custom kunai's, the right one drenched with blood while the left one was brand new.

"Die!" The Sand Jounin screamed as he threw three shurikens.

Maki avoided the first shuriken and then blocked the other shuriken with his custom kunai's. The Sand Jounin cursed loudly and started forming seals but Maki quickly acted fast, charging forward towards the Jounin.

"Water release! Cannon blast technique!"

Maki heard the voice and it was coming from that darned Sound Chuunin. Maki could see a large wave coming from his right and Maki could tell that the wave was infused with a lot of chakra. Maki jumped forward, avoiding the water wave and then landed right in front of the Sand Jounin. The Sand ninja stepped back as he completed the last seal but Maki distracted his opponent by slashing the knees with his right custom kunai. The man dropped down due to loss of balance and Maki quickly finished the Sand ninja off by slicing the man's neck with his left custom kunai, creating a new shadow clone in the process. The clone went for the Sound Chuunin. The Sound Chuunin tried to form seals but the clone reached him first, finishing the man off by plunging his kunai into the man's chest. The clone took out his kunai and went off to help his allies that need help.

Maki just stood there and looked at his surroundings. He could see several ANBU ninjas fighting against some other Jounins, either Sound or Sand ninjas. Maki heard someone approaching him from behind and Maki realised it was a Sound Chuunin, wounded badly with three kunai on his chest but the man was still standing. The man has his right arm raised, with a kunai in his right palm, prepared to finish Maki off. Maki made no move to block the attack because before the man could attack, another clone of Maki appeared from behind, grabbed the man by the neck and finished the man off easily. Maki smiled and thanked his clone. It was funny saying thank you to your own self.

"Maki-san," A voice called from his right. Maki turned and it was an ANBU captain, wearing a bear mask, "We need you to assist Konoha's western area."

"What about here?" Maki asked.

"The situation here is not that bad compared to the west. The situation over there is very bad. Konoha ninjas there are outnumbered in a ratio of 4:1. With your skills, you should be able to help balance the skills." The ANBU captain explained, coughing a little.

"Are you alright?" Maki asked, concerned.

"I will be okay," The ANBU captain assured, "You should hurry, Maki-san. I believe that an ANBU squad is heading in that direction also."

Maki nodded, "Don't die, comrade."

"I won't," The ANBU captain replied, "And if you meet an ANBU ninja with the codename 'Yamato,' you should be able to relax a little. He is a highly skilled ninja, probably around the level of an ANBU captain like myself. Maybe higher."

Maki nodded and went off, leaving the north area. As Maki sprinted off another rooftop, he watched the ANBU captain that he conversed with earlier taking out his katana and facing three Sand Jounin. Maki hoped that man will live. Maki sighed, looking at the western area. He hoped that he could help them over there.

'Maki-san and Kakashi-san are our only main form of defence right now,' The ANBU captain thought as he finished off the second Sand Jounin by plunging his katana into the man's chest, 'If these two fall, we would be at a really huge disadvantage.'

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Far from the centre of Konoha, where the sound of battle could not be heard, two ninjas continue on their pursuit. They have been chasing two other Sand Gennins for a quarter of an hour now, jumping from tree branches, jumping over streams but they were at least getting closer to their targets. They could feel that the chakra of the blonde girl getting closer.

"I never thought that the training grounds would be this huge." Naruto exclaimed.

"That's because the training ground is just basically one huge area that was divided into different parts. Didn't you pay attention in the academy?" Sakura said annoyed.

Naruto scratched his head, "I never really paid much attention. It was so boring."

Sakura sighed and that was the end of the conversation. They had no time to make small talk since they have a mission ahead of them. An A-rank mission was what Naruto had told her, assigned by her uncle. The thought of her uncle fighting in Konoha for their homeland against so many enemy ninjas made Sakura feel proud of her uncle but also fearful that he might die.

Naruto could see the worried look on Sakura's face but he did not know what it was. But he knew it must be something related to this invasion of Konoha. What else could it have been about? Naruto was worried himself whether he could live to see another day. He still wanted to achieve his dream of becoming Hokage.

"I wonder if Sasuke is okay…" Sakura said worriedly as the two were now in an open field, getting closer to the chakra presence of Temari.

"He better be," Naruto replied as he took out a kunai, "Or I will pound his ass. But knowing that guy, he will. That guy won't give up so easily to a fight. Not with him carrying the pride of his family."

Sakura giggled a little, despite the situation where nothing was funny. After all, your homeland being attacked by foreign ninjas was not a situation where you could just laugh.

"I think I can see her." Naruto said, looking at something in the distance.

Sakura looked at where Naruto was looking at and sure enough, Sakura could see the blonde female Sand gennin supporting Gaara. She was clearly trying to continue on but carrying her large fan and also Gaara at the same time must be taking a toll on her. Temari also seemed to have sensed Naruto and Sakura as she tries to escape her pursuers by chakra sprinting.

"Come on," Naruto called after Sakura as he started to chakra sprint, "Let's go get her!"

Sakura didn't have to be told twice as she followed her blonde haired team mate, putting chakra to her feet. Unlike Sakura, Naruto has an enormous amount of chakra so he was pretty fast as he charged forward at Temari. Temari was also surprised by the sheer speed of Naruto and feeling that she has no choice, she dropped Gaara to the ground and took her large fan from her back, opening it up.

Naruto took out a kunai as he got closer to Temari. Temari immediately swung her large fan when Naruto was within range, sending a powerful gust of wind at Naruto. Naruto was sent flying backwards but the wind seemed practically harmless. It was just meant to push Naruto back. Temari knew that fighting both Naruto and Sakura was out of the question so all she can do right now is just try and buy her some time and perhaps someone would come and help.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked as she kneeled right next to Naruto.

Naruto groaned a little, picking up the kunai he dropped, "Yeah. That wind technique sure knocked me back pretty hard."

"You idiot," Sakura scolded as she helped Naruto up, "You know better than to just run straight at an enemy."

Naruto apologised once more and the two leaf Gennin now put their attention on the female Gennin of the Sand. Temari has her large fan in front of her, acting as a shield. Temari took a quick glance at Gaara behind her and he was still unconscious. Temari knew that if Naruto and Sakura beat her, Gaara will be killed. Although his sand would automatically protect Gaara from physical harm, Temari doubted that it would with Gaara unconscious. Even if it does, how long can the sand defend itself from these two brats attacking him.

Naruto charged forward and Sakura followed, both with kunai's drawn. As they were halfway to Temari, Sakura skipped to her left and Temari knew that Sakura was most likely going to attack her from the side while she have to fend off Naruto from the front. Temari gathered chakra to her fan and then swung her weapon, sending a gust of wind towards Naruto. Naruto quickly formed his seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Three puff of smoke appeared right in front of the original Naruto and all three of the clones took the hit for the original one, thus making Temari's wind technique useless. Temari cursed and took a step back, prepared to deliver another wind technique when she could feel another chakra presence behind her. Temari turned and used her fan as a shield on time as Sakura nearly sliced Temari's neck with her kunai. With the fan now between the two kunoichi, Temari took out a kunai that was wrapped with an exploding tag and quickly placed it on the ground. Temari then quickly jumped away, leaving Sakura alone with the explosion tag. Sakura of course noticed it and was able to avoid it on time by jumping away.

Temari's view was blocked by the dust caused by the explosion. She could not see Naruto or Sakura but all that matters was that Gaara was still alive.

"Wind release! Blast cannon technique!"

Temari's eyes widen upon hearing Naruto's voice coming from in front of her. This air technique was almost the same as 'Air bullet' but the technique carries a wider range and much more powerful but of course, consumes more chakra. Temari quickly jumped into the air and was on time too as the ball of air shot through below her. Unfortunately, that was according to Naruto and Sakura's plan. Temari was in the air with Sakura right in front of her as Sakura completed three simple seals.

Temari was caught in a genjutsu, filled with sakura petals floating around her. The petals were sharp as they easily scratched Temari's skin. Temari winced in pain and quickly released the genjutsu, consuming a small amount of her chakra. But Naruto was already next to Gaara, his kunai prepared to plunge through Gaara's head.

"No!" Temari shouted, running towards Gaara but Temari knew that she was too late.

Suddenly, just as Naruto's attack was so close to killing Gaara, a small amount of sand blocked Naruto's kunai. The sand was infused with chakra and Naruto knew that Gaara must now be conscious. Naruto was a little bit to slow though, as the small amount of sand suddenly grew three times in size and smashed right onto Naruto's chest, once again him crashing on the ground, precisely thirteen metres away from Gaara's unconscious form.

Sakura quickly ran to her blonde team mate while Temari ran to Gaara to make sure he was alright.

"Gaara," Temari asked as she kneeled next to him, "Are you okay?"

Gaara groaned in pain, clutching his head with his right hand, "The shadow user. Is he dead?"

Temari swallowed hard. Temari knew that Gaara will release the shukaku if his emotions are not controlled properly and Gaara will be furious if he hears that the shadow ninja he faced earlier was still alive. When Gaara has fixed his eyes on a person, Gaara will want that person dead.

"The blonde haired kid over there took him somewhere. If we want to find out where he is, he knows." Temari answered.

Gaara looked at Naruto, who was slowly getting back to his feet with Sakura helping him. Gaara licked his lips, bloodlust in his eyes, "Then it will be a pleasure to kill this guy instead."

Temari sighed softly. It would be okay for Gaara to release the shukaku if there were other Jounins like her teacher, Himura around. But if it was just her, who knows what Gaara would do?

"Temari," Gaara said softly, "I will take that blonde kid on my own."

"But…"

"Silence!" Gaara hissed, releasing sand from his gourd, "I want no objections. You can take that pink haired girl, but I want him!"

Temari nodded her head. There was no point in going against her younger brother anyway. Temari looked at Sakura. Temari knew that Sakura was a genjutsu user, and a talented one at that. It looks like her and Sakura are both long-range users and it seems that whoever has the better technique will emerge victorious.

Naruto wiped a small amount of blood from his lips. The impact was so strong earlier that Naruto actually coughed out blood and normally, it would have broken his ribs but thanks to the Kyuubi's fast regeneration powers that Naruto could still continue. Naruto could feel the large amount of killing intent coming out from Gaara and Naruto has felt this before in their previous encounters.

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto said suddenly without breaking eye contact with Gaara, "You go and take Temari. I will handle Gaara."

"Are you crazy?" Sakura protested, "Gaara will finish you off easily. If you actually think that…"

"Please," Naruto interrupted, looking right into Sakura's eyes, "Do this for me."

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, she could feel a tear trickling down her right cheek. Sakura does not want to lose Naruto and no matter how strong Naruto is, is he capable to beat a ninja that has sand to protect him forever?

"Don't die on me, Naruto-kun." Sakura whispered with dread in her voice.

Naruto gave his famous foxy grin, "I will be okay…"

With that, Naruto stepped forward and gave a brief kiss to Sakura's lips, catching the pink haired kunoichi by surprise. When Sakura was back to her senses, Naruto and Gaara had both disappeared, not even leaving a trace that they were ever there. It was as if Gaara and Naruto had planned that they will both be facing one another.

"Your boyfriend is dead, you know that, don't you?" Temari taunted, her large fan in her left hand.

"You are confident, aren't you?" Sakura replied as she took out a new kunai.

Temari mocked Sakura by bowing a little, "And I have every right to be. You Konoha ninjas are weak, and I will prove it to you after I cut off your head."

"Go ahead and try…"

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Miles away from the training grounds, the stadium was filled with ninjas still fighting one another, hoping to gain the stadium as a leverage. The stadium of Konoha was after all, located right at the centre of Konoha and whichever side obtains the position would have a huge advantage since they can use this position to strike at any area of Konoha. Currently, Konoha was doing a good job as they are slowly pushing the Sand and Sound ninjas out of the stadium.

There were now two ANBU squads in the stadium and that was all Konoha needed to help push the enemy out of the stadium. The Sand ninja have lost one of their lead Jounin and another, which was Himura, have disappeared. Konoha has two elite Jounin in the stadium, and one of them, the copy ninja, was enough to boost the morale of the other Konoha shinobi's in the stadium.

"Yosh!" Gai yelled as he punched a Sound Chuunin in the face, breaking the Chuunin's nose, "I have never felt so youthful!"

Gai turned to look at Kakashi, whom was easily taking on two other Sand Jounins.

"Kakashi, how many have you got?" Gai asked as he ran up to help Kakashi.

"Not too bad," Kakashi answered as he ducked and plunged his kunai into the Sand Jounin's right thigh, "About forty-three. You?"

"WHAT?!" Gai yelled, causing him to kick the Sand Jounin so hard that the Jounin was sent crashing through the wall of the stadium, "I am still so far! That's it! Kakashi, you have so much youth in you that I envy you!"

Kakashi sweat dropped at that. It was simply amazing how Gai, at a time like this could still use this as a competition between Kakashi and Gai. Kakashi eyed at the arena of the stadium and he could see that an injured Konoha Jounin was ganged up against three Sound Chuunin. With incredible speed, Kakashi formed six seals.

"Lightning release! Wrath of exodus technique!"

Kakashi's body was surrounded by lightning and three bolts of lightning escaped from Kakashi's body. The three lightning bolt easily killed the three Sound Chuunin, saving the Konoha Jounin. The Jounin looked up at Kakashi and nodded as a sort of thanks. Kakashi simply waved back and surveyed the stadium. It was safe to say that the stadium was now Konoha's as the other Sand and Sound ninjas were slowly running away. Some were still fighting and they still easily outnumbered Konoha's ninjas but with them now low on morale and tired, Konoha can easily beat them.

"Wind release! Gust technique!"

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Two ANBU ninjas yelled as the two cast their techniques at the same time. Since air technique would easily back up fire techniques, causing the fire to be stronger, the two technique combination helped the large fireball increase in size, burning several Sound and Sand ninjas.

Kakashi could see that he was no longer needed and with only two-fifth of his chakra left, Kakashi knew he will have to conserve them. Kakashi used his headband to cover his left eye, thus stopping his use of the Sharingan.

"Are you alright, Kakashi-san?" A Konoha Chuunin asked as he kneeled next to Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded, "What's the current situation?"

"Well, it seems that this area could be classified as Konoha now. The other Sand and Sound ninjas are retreating, to the west point of Konoha. The ANBU squads here have reported that once they have cleared this area, they are headed to the west area of Konoha as they have heard reports that the west area of Konoha is heavily outnumbered, in a ratio of 7:1."

Kakashi rubbed his chin, "That is bad. And what about the shakes earlier?"

"Ah yes," The Konoha Chuunin cleared his throat, "A large summon, a snake, has appeared and is causing chaos in that area. The snake is still there and about seven ANBU squads are holding the summon back, but we are not sure how long they can last."

"A snake summon?!" Kakashi was shocked, rising to his feet, "Alright, I'm heading in that direction right now."

With that, Kakashi sprinted off, jumping to the rooftop and making his way to the north side of Konoha. Even from here, he can see the large summon of a snake ransacking the area. Kakashi hoped he can try and stall it before help arrives. Whoever that can take a summon like that.

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"Izumo! Watch out!" A voice yelled.

Izumo turned around and was able to avoid three shurikens tossed at him. Izumo was fortunate that an ally was there or else he would have been killed by now. Izumo jumped on a rooftop and surveyed the surroundings. Although he was a Chuunin, Izumo was a talented ninja that could be a Jounin rank right now but he never took the exams since he found that being a Chuunin was less stressful. If his old teacher, Maki, had known this, he would have raised hell.

On the rooftop with Izumo was a medic-nin trying to heal several injured ninjas. One ANBU leader was badly wounded earlier from the snake summon and it would take the medic-nin an hour to heal him completely. That was why the medic-nin was concentrating more on the other wounded ninjas first, wounds that were not so bad and would just take a minute or so to heal.

"Izumo-san," The medic-nin called as he continued healing, "Are there any other wounded ninjas out there?"

Izumo managed to chuckle, "A lot actually. Look, I'm doing the best I can in collecting them and bringing them here. I just need to find the closest one."

The medic-nin nodded, "Alright, my apologies."

At that time, a Sound Jounin appeared right in front of Izumo, catching the Konoha Chuunin by surprise. The Sound Jounin slashed Izumo's right shoulder as Izumo dropped on his back. Blood seeped out of his wound and drenched his Chuunin vest.

"Fire release! Spit bullet technique!"

Izumo eyes widen as a ball of fire was coming at him. Izumo prayed for his life when a large amount of water appeared from behind him, destroying the fireball and crashing against the Sound Jounin, most likely killing him. Izumo turned around to find his rescuer.

"Kiryuu!" Izumo called out, "What… What are you doing here?"

Kiryuu smirked, "I was in the area and thought you needed help." Kiryuu offered a hand, "Come on, get up."

Izumo accepted the offer and smiled, "It has been a long time since we worked together."

Kiryuu smiled sadly, "I haven't seen Maki-sensei for a long time. Come on, we got a job to do."

Izumo was about to reply to his old friend when a katana plunged right through Kiryuu's gut from behind, catching the two of them in shock. Kiryuu gasped for his life as blood appeared from his mouth. Behind Kiryuu was a wounded Sand Chuunin wielding an ANBU katana.

"Kiryuu!"

The Sand Chuunin took out the katana from Kiryuu's back and Kiryuu slowly dropped forward. Izumo reached out and grabbed Kiryuu, bringing him to the ground. Izumo looked into Kiryuu's eyes and he could already see that Kiryuu was losing his life.

"Kiryuu! Don't you dare die on me!" Izumo shouted but Kiryuu's eyes were already not responding. The katana must have hit a vital organ.

The Sand Chuunin chuckled and raised the katana to deliver the killing blow to Izumo when two chakra blades sliced the man's neck off. This surprised Izumo once more and Izumo was now looking at an elite Jounin, who was relaxing and actually smoking at a time like this.

"Asuma-san…"

"We don't have time to remorse for comrades. We have to defend Konoha first." Asuma told Izumo and with that, he left Izumo, prepared to slaughter more enemy ninjas for Konoha.

The snake summon was unstoppable as the six ANBU squads were slowly running out of ideas and techniques to try and slow it down. Even the special Jounin, Ibiki, was having trouble. They knew that the snake summon can only be defeated by another summon and the only ninja that could probably summon a summon that size would be the Hokage, but he was currently engaged with Orochimaru.

An ANBU soldier that has his right arm drenched with blood appeared next to Ibiki, kneeling next to him.

"What do we do?" The ANBU ninja asked.

Ibiki cursed loudly, clenching his fist, "The north area of Konoha is lost. We have to fall back and prepare a defensive position. If this continue on, more of us will die! Give the order to fall back! The north side area of Konoha is lost!"

The ANBU ninja nodded, "Understood… We will…"

The ANBU ninja never got to finish his sentence though. Even Ibiki was stunned. They could see on the wall of Konoha that two new-comers have arrived and Ibiki have not seen that man for twelve years and the woman, he could not remember when was the last time he saw her.

"Summoning technique!"

A large puff of smoke appeared and a large toad with two katana's in it's sheath was on its back, appeared right in front of the snake summon. The snake summon was taken aback, stopping it's attack and the new-comer, a male with long white hair stood on the toad. The man started doing some sort of weird dance and everyone in the north area of Konoha stopped fighting, watching in awe.

"That's right! Fear the arrival of the great 'Toad Sannin,' the great gallant Jiraiya! You snakes are a shame, fearing to the mere presence of a toad!" Jiraiya yelled as he finally got into a pose.

"Ji…Jiraiya-sama?!" An ANBU ninja repeated, "The legendary 'Toad Sannin?'"

Jiraiya found Ibiki kneeling on a rooftop and he chuckled, "Ibiki, I have not seen you for a long time. You can relax now, let us Sannins deal with these bastards."

Tsunade, still on the wall was surveying the area of Konoha. Her homeland was badly damaged. On the south of Konoha, she could only see thick black smoke with flames consuming the area. In this area, the Konoha ninjas were losing badly and most were injured badly. Tsunade clenched her fist, gathering a right amount of chakra into her right fist.

"Go to hell!" Tsunade screamed as she jumped down the wall and laid her right fist on the ground, destroying the area and sending both Sand and Sound ninjas flying away.

The Sound and Sand ninjas were now only paying attention on Jiraiya and Tsunade. The appearance of these two crazy, yet powerful ninjas were going to change the tide of battle.

Tsunade walked to an injured Konoha Jounin, who has two deep wounds on his chest and a few injuries to his left leg from shurikens. Tsunade kneeled next to the man and applied chakra to the man's wounds. In just a matter of sixteen seconds, Tsunade has healed the man which would normally take a normal-medic nin about twelve minutes or more to do so.

"Alright," Jiraiya called out, "I will handle the snake. The rest of you, take care of them."

Ibiki never felt happy before. It looks like Konoha's reinforcement have finally arrived with the appearance of these two powerful ninjas. Ibiki stood up, prepared to finish the other Sand and Sound ninjas off when suddenly, three ANBU squads appeared right behind him but the ANBU squads were not a normal squad. They were wearing cloaks. They were known as the 'ANBU black opts,' a powerful and much more secretive squad.

"Ibiki-san," The leader of the black opts said, "It is time we use the third step."

Ibiki nodded, "Roger that."

Finally, Konoha was using the third step of it's defensive program. The second step was to evacuate civilians and now, the third step, all ANBU black opts were gathered and to quickly counter-attack and also, the leader of each clans will strike back at each area of Konoha. Now, Konoha's reinforcement was going to change the tide of battle.

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Naruto looked at the red haired Gennin right in front of him and even with the large amount of killing intent released, Naruto felt no fear for Gaara. Naruto was prepared to fight him and beat him.

"You will regret facing me," Gaara said, licking his lips, "Especially when I have a monster inside of me."

"Really?" Naruto chuckled, "I have a monster inside of me too."

Gaara looked deep into Naruto's ocean, blue eyes and could see that Naruto was not lying. Could it be that Naruto was the same as Gaara? Gaara was not sure but he liked to face this kid. Most enemy ninjas he faced showed fear but Naruto was the first to not even show a single hint of fear. Gaara was going to have fun fighting Naruto.

"Then we are both the same…" Gaara concluded, releasing sand once more from his gourd.

"That we are…" Naruto mumbled.

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Haruno Maki threw his custom kunai towards a wall and quickly released a shadow clone. The clone appeared and quickly killed a Sound Jounin that was about to decapitate an ANBU ninja. The clone made it on time, slicing the Sound ninja's neck.

"Damn it," Maki muttered, "This place is heavily outnumbered."

Maki was right. Even with his arrival and him creating ten shadow clones, it was not enough. The enemy ninjas here were large and if this continues, Maki and the others will have to fall back. But Maki knew that if they did so, Konoha would suffer so he decided against it. Maki only has about two-sixth of his chakra left.

A Sand Jounin appeared and was able to cut Maki's right shoulder. Maki winced in pain and backed away, taking out a brand new custom kunai. Maki only has about eleven left. The Sand Jounin attacks once more, nearly slashing Maki's chest but Maki side-stepped and gave a small cut to the man's wrist, allowing his custom kunai to draw blood. A shadow clone appeared and it shocked the Jounin so much that the clone easily killed him. The clone then went off to help others.

"Maki-san," An ANBU ninja appeared right next to Maki, "We are going to have to work together if we want this area to last until the ANBU black opts arrive."

"How long till they arrive?" Maki asked.

"Precisely nine minutes from now." The ANBU ninja answered as the two use each others back to support each other.

"I'm assuming your code name is Yamato?" Maki questioned.

"That is correct."

Maki finally found the ANBU ninja that was said powerful enough to help him. If Maki was correct, he heard that 'Yamato' was an underling of Kakashi when Kakashi was ANBU and although 'Yamato' was talented, he was not at the level of Kakashi yet, therefore, not at the level of Maki too.

'I just hope that they arrive soon…' Maki thought, refering to the ANBU black opts.

**Alright, just one last Author's note. Those wondering who my new OC is, which will only appear in this chapter, he was a student of Maki and therefore, team mate of Izumo. I made him die in this chapter to show that those close to the characters also die. I couldn't make Gai or Kakashi die so I decided a close friend of Izumo, which was an OC and not that important for my story. Alright, till next time.**


	34. Jinchuuriki vs Jinchuuriki

**Alright guys, here is the new chapter and sorry for the delay. There is really nothing much for me to say but I would like to thank to my 2 most loyal readers. I apologise if I spell your username's wrongly.**

**Gravenimage**

**Narutorocks 1989**

**These two are my most loyal readers and also reviewers. Also, on my most recent review by… erm… I think beautifulnaruto or something. Your review really motivated me to quickly update. Thank you! Once again, I apologise for any errors in your usernames, cuz im typing this story offline, so yeah.**

**So please, I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please, review.**

**Next chapter, "The end of the invasion."**

CHAPTER 34: JINCHUURIKI VS JINCHUURIKI

To actually say that Kakashi was shocked would have been an understatement. Kakashi knew that Jiraiya had left Konoha to find his old team mate to try and persuade her to return, but Kakashi expected Jiraiya to return after the invasion. But here he was, watching Jiraiya battling against the giant summon while Tsunade was busy healing wounded ninjas, at an incredibly fast rate. Tsunade just needed a couple of seconds to heal them and they were back in action.

Kakashi sprinted in the streets of Konoha, ignored by all Sound and Sand ninjas as they put their full attention on the two Sannin. However, that does not mean he should be careless and not be on the lookout. Kakashi continued on until he reached a building and found an ANBU squad in the building, fully armed and looked as if they were prepared to move out.

"What's the situation?" Kakashi asked as he entered the building.

The ANBU leader stepped forward, "Kakashi-san, Konoha has entered stage three of the defence system."

It took a second for the words to register into Kakashi's head, "It took them long enough. So, what's the plan?"

"My squad and two more squads are headed to the western area of Konoha. They are badly in need of reinforcements. Also, two ANBU black opt squads are already on their way there." The ANBU leader explained.

Kakashi nodded and watched what was happening outside the building. Kakashi could see several Konoha Jounins returning to fight the enemies off. The snake summon was clearly losing to Jiraiya's toad and Jiraiya was easily fending off enemy ninjas that tried to near him. Tsunade was healing wounded ninjas at record time and her fist were able to scare off Sound and Sand ninjas away, not wanting to take the risk of receiving a punch. Kakashi himself would not want to get hit.

"I'm following you guys." Kakashi told the ANBU squad leader just as he was about to give the order to depart.

The ANBU leader nodded, "I know…"

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Naruto stared down hard at his opponent. Gaara was clearly a person that enjoys killing people for the sake of it. Naruto took out a kunai and for the life of him, did not know how to initiate an attack. For one thing, Naruto was a person that preferred to engage his enemies in close-range although Naruto was also quite well trained in long-range battles with his wind techniques.

Gaara finally stopped pouring sand from his gourd and looked at Naruto with cold dead eyes. Naruto readied himself, not knowing what Gaara was thinking. Naruto knew nothing of Gaara except that he can automatically defend himself with his sand.

"I remember you now," Gaara said, his voice raspy, "You were the one that interfered with Kankurou and Temari in the streets of Konoha."

Naruto did not respond. Naruto just stood there with adrenaline pumping throughout his body. Gaara continued on, "Yes, since that day, I knew you were different from the others. And now I know why, you and me are the same."

"The same?"

Gaara gave an evil smirk, "You yourself said that you contain a monster within you. So do I. The mythical one-tailed beast is sealed within me."

For the first time since Naruto looked at Gaara, he could see that he and Gaara had the same kind of eyes. The eyes that showed of sadness and sorrow but there was one thing that was obvious. Although both had the same kind of eyes, Naruto's was far brighter. Gaara had obviously suffered throughout his childhood while Naruto had Maki and Sakura at the age of 5, and he had friends in the academy. Gaara and Naruto were alike but they had a different childhood.

"We may be the same," Naruto said softly, "But we are also different. One thing is, we're from different village's and my mission is to eliminate you."

Gaara chuckled, "Yes, once I kill you, I will prove to the world of my existence! Prove that strength comes only from loving oneself…"

Naruto wanted to hear no more and quickly threw three shurikens at Gaara which Gaara easily blocked it with his sand. Naruto ran to his right and Gaara knew that Naruto was planning to attack from Gaara's left. It was pointless though. Gaara summoned a reasonable amount of sand and shaped it.

"Sand shuriken!"

Three balls of sand, in the shape of a shuriken were all thrown at Naruto. Naruto was surprised by the sheer speed of the shuriken and was easily hit by all three shuriken, which sent him flying and crashing against a tree. Naruto could hear the bark of the tree break and Naruto was surprised that he was still okay. Naruto groaned in pain and touched his back, trying to sooth his pain.

"Come on!" Gaara shouted, taking one step forward, "Show me what you have got, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto looked at Gaara and his eyes looked at a disgusting form. Gaara was somehow changing. The sand from his gourd seems to be taking over Gaara's body, covering the whole of Gaara's left face. Gaara now looked like a monster, his left face consumed with a thick layer of sand and his left eye was now yellow in colour.

"Show me your strength!" Gaara yelled once more, his voice changing.

Naruto quickly formed a seal and created three shadow clones. Gaara smiled, knowing that this was Naruto's favourite technique. Gaara watched Naruto's match earlier with the young Hyuuga and Gaara knew that Naruto's use of shadow clones was quite impressive.

All three clones ran towards Gaara while the real Naruto stayed behind. The first clone was easily destroyed by another 'sand shuriken' that Gaara threw at. The second clone reached Gaara and threw a punch and a powerhouse kick, but the clone's attempts were all blocked by the sand. The clone tried to deliver another punch but the clone's hand was sucked in by the sand, thus, making the clone unable to move away. Gaara then ordered his sand to surround his left right arm, and changed the shape of the sand into a sword. Once Gaara's right arm was a weapon, Gaara plunged the sand-sword into the clone's belly, dispelling it.

The third clone was much more careful. The clone threw a shuriken and sure enough, the sand blocked it. The clone then charged and tried to deliver a kick but Gaara, with his new sword-like arm, easily slashed the clone and dispelled it. All three clones were defeated in a matter of six seconds.

Gaara looked at the real Naruto, "Is that the best you have got?"

"I was just getting warmed up!" Naruto replied as he threw a shuriken at Gaara.

Gaara laughed at the sight of a puny shuriken. Gaara was starting to wonder if this Naruto was a joke and decided to just finish Naruto off, quick and easy. However, Naruto was not a ninja to be messed with. Naruto formed a seal.

"Shuriken shadow replication technique!"

Gaara's eyes widen upon hearing that and quickly summoned a large shield of sand to block the attack. Although naturally, the sand would block it for him, but with such a large number of shurikens, surely his sand would not be able to keep up. When Gaara was sure that the attack was over, Gaara released the sand but could not find Naruto anywhere.

"Wind release! Scars of death!"

Naruto opened his mouth and shot out a large amount of air at Gaara. The air was at the shape of a blade and Gaara quickly tried to avoid it, but the technique that Naruto used was at such an incredible speed that Gaara's sand could not block it on time. Gaara could feel the air-shaped blade piercing his right arm, blood seeping out of the wound. Gaara winced in pain. Pain. It was a feeling that Gaara was not used to.

Gaara was so pre-occupied that he never felt the presence of a second Naruto on his right. When Gaara finally felt the chakra signature, it was too late as the clone punched Gaara with all it's might, sending Gaara a few metres away from Naruto. Gaara struggled to get up, blood seeping out of the right corner of his mouth.

"When… When did you create a clone?" Gaara asked, wiping the blood of his mouth. Gaara looked at his hand, dried blood on it. Gaara looked at Naruto, and Naruto found it strange that Gaara's eyes seem to be more excited.

"I was just quick enough to create a clone without you realising it."

Gaara's shoulders were shaking as he started laughing softly, "You interest me a lot, Uzumaki Naruto…"

When Gaara finished laughing, Gaara grunted in pain as the sand from his gourd started to consume more of Gaara's left side. Naruto took a step back, watching in horror as the sand seem to have a mind of it's own as it slowly consumes Gaara's left side of the body with Gaara in pain. Gaara was panting heavily after the transformation was complete and his voice was completely different now.

"What's wrong, Uzumaki Naruto?" Gaara questioned, smiling. It looked more like his left side of his face was the only one that smiled while the other side just remained serious.

"What… What are you?!" Naruto asked with fear in his voice.

Gaara chuckled, waving his transformed left arm. His left arm was consumed completely by sand and has four sharp claws, "I am the one-tailed beast!"

With that, Gaara charged forward towards Naruto and despite Gaara's now large size, Gaara was incredibly fast. Although Naruto was somehow prepared, the speed was so quick that Naruto never got the chance to even move. Gaara used his newly transformed arm and smashed it on Naruto's chest, sending Naruto twenty metres backwards. The force was so strong that when Naruto landed on the ground, he bounced once and took Naruto three seconds to come to a complete stop.

Naruto was bleeding already from the mouth. Naruto struggled to get up but the pain on his chest was unbearable. It seems that Gaara's left arm was fused with a lot of chakra. Naruto was still on his back and had to use his elbows to pull his upper-self up. He looked at Gaara in the eyes and knew that Gaara has every intent to finish him off now. Gaara once again charged forward and knowing that Naruto will be done for if he does not move, Naruto formed a seal.

"Shadow replication technique."

Four puff of smoke were created and the four clones immediately tossed Naruto backwards and the four clones engaged Gaara. Gaara found that the clones were in his way and quickly swung his left arm, easily destroying two clones. The remaining clones backed away and each tossed a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag. Gaara knew that his left arm could block the attack but the result of that would be destroying his arm so Gaara simply summoned a wall of sand to take the blow.

That was what Naruto needed as a plan. The two clones ran behind Gaara while the real Naruto formed seals. When Gaara finally released the sand, Naruto has finished the similar seals he used earlier.

"Wind release! Scars of death!"

Gaara chuckled, recognising the simple technique. The blade-shaped air was coming directly at him and Gaara simply jumped into the air but that was what Naruto wanted. The two clones were behind Gaara and Gaara sensed them of course. The first clone attacked, swinging his right arm that was wielding a kunai. Gaara was a little slow but his sand managed to block the attack and Gaara used his left arm to destroy the clone.

The second clone, seeing that Gaara was open from the left side, threw a shuriken. Gaara cursed and summoned a wall of sand on time. The shuriken was blocked and Naruto observed one thing. The transformation has caused Gaara's automatic defence to slow down. Gaara was struggling to evade Naruto's attacks when Naruto have not attacked with high speed yet. So, now it was Naruto's turn to strike.

The clone and Gaara landed on the ground and just as Gaara was about to smash the clone to pieces, Gaara sensed chakra from behind him. Gaara turned to find Naruto forming seals.

"Wind release! Air's fury!"

A gust of wind was formed and the air was shaped like that of a box. Gaara quickly summoned a wall of sand on time as three large cuts was created on the wall of sand. Gaara was getting furious at Naruto for making Gaara on the defensive for the past minute and when Gaara released his wall of sand, the clone behind Gaara stabbed Gaara on his right shoulder. Gaara screamed in pain and with his left arm, grabbed the clone by the waist and crushed it. That satisfied Gaara a little until Gaara felt something poking his left arm. Gaara turned around to find Naruto on his left arm, stabbing a kunai wrapped with an explosion tag on his arm.

Naruto waved, "See ya!"

With that, Naruto jumped off as Gaara watched in fear. Gaara's attempts on trying to remove the kunai was futile since his left arm was now so big that his right arm could not reach it. As the exploding tag continues to burn and was about to finish burning, Gaara stopped his attempts and decided to try and protect himself.

Naruto watched from afar as the tag exploded. Naruto had to cover his face with his arm due to the power of the explosion. All that was now blocking Naruto's view on Gaara was the smoke. Just to be prepared, Naruto created six shadow clones, all of the clones in a formation with a kunai drawn.

Once the smoke settled, Gaara was still standing, but Naruto could definitely see that the explosion have definitely affected him a lot. For one, his mutilated left arm was now like a broken arm. The sand was slowly disappearing but the arm was still gigantic. At least it looks like Gaara could no longer his left arm and with it being useless, the weight of the sand should be a huge disadvantage to Gaara. However, Gaara's body did not really receive much damage from the explosion since Gaara, at the last second, summoned sand to circle around his body. The sand was able to take up all the damage from the explosion and the only thing that was on Gaara was dirt.

"You…" Gaara started to say, "You are really what I expected of, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger and quickly ordered all of his clones to attack Gaara. Naruto has had enough of this. How can one mere Gennin, the same rank as him, survive Naruto's last attack? It should have killed him and it seems that Gaara never seemed to have used any bit of chakra. Gaara fought with Shikamaru earlier in the exam and without eating any chakra restoring pill, Gaara was still able to summon sand to defend himself.

As the clones continued to run, Gaara was now being more and more possessed by the beast within him. The sand was now slowly devouring Gaara's body and when all six clones finally reached Gaara, Gaara was now covered with sand and Gaara was now extremely large. Two of Gaara's arms are now the gigantic arms with claws and Gaara has grown a tail, courtesy from the sand from his gourd.

Gaara smirked and when two of the clones jumped towards Gaara, Gaara spun around and used his tail to smack the two clones away. They were dispelled and three more clones jumped forward. Gaara summoned a large amount of sand from the ground and shaped it into some sort of spear. The clones were easily destroyed by the sand-shaped spear.

The last remaining clone backed off and jumped next to Naruto. Naruto watched the whole thing in shock. Gaara was now far more powerful than Naruto, Naruto could tell. Naruto could sense the killing intent coming from Gaara and it was enough to bring fear to Naruto. Naruto was never affected much by Gaara's killing intent but this time, the killing intent of Gaara was extremely huge.

"What… What are you?!" Naruto asked, his voice shaky.

Gaara laughed, "Is this all you have got for me, Uzumaki Naruto! Then let me end your misery!"

As Gaara took one step forward, Naruto quickly formed seals in hopes that the technique could at least judge how powerful Gaara has become. Naruto finished the seals and gathered chakra to his throat.

"Wind release! Air bullet technique!"

Naruto spat out a ball of air at Gaara and Gaara made no attempts to try and avoid the incoming missile. Naruto's 'air bullet' smashed onto Gaara's chest and the technique seemed to only cause Gaara to fall back one step behind. Naruto looked at Gaara's chest, where the ball of air hit Gaara and Gaara's chest was not damaged at all. Gaara's sand have become an impregnable armour.

"Die! Uzumaki Naruto!"

Gaara placed his right arm forward with his palm open. A wave of sand went towards Naruto and Naruto soon found himself in a room of sand. Naruto was trapped in this sand 'box.' Naruto took out a kunai and tried to cut his way out but the sand was so strong that it was like hitting his kunai against steel.

"Desert coffin." Gaara said softly and slowly, Gaara closed his right palm.

"Desert graveyard!"

Inside the 'box' Naruto was crushed and if it were normal ninja's, they would have been crushed to pieces by now but Naruto, for now, was simply crushed but he was still breathing. Naruto was coughing out blood, and he could feel that his life was slipping away. Naruto's healing abilities were able to keep him alive, but not for long.

"This is the end for you, Uzumaki… Naruto…"

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Naruto looked around his surroundings and found himself no longer in that sand 'box.' Naruto was now staring at a large steel gate right in front of him. Naruto checked his surroundings once more and Naruto realised that the ground was filled with water, the level up to his ankles. Naruto looked at the massive gates and found that it was sealed.

"**We finally meet, brat."** A deep voice said.

"Wha… Who's there?" Naruto called out, not recognising the voice.

Naruto could now feel a tremendous amount of chakra in front of him. Naruto, never in his lifetime, felt so much chakra and from the darkness of the other side of the gate, two red eyes stared back at him.

"**Kid, come here."** The voice called out and Naruto assumed it belonged to the red-eyed beast.

Naruto obeyed the voice and he walked toward the gates. As Naruto got closer, the beast suddenly attacked, claws appearing from the openings of the gate. Luckily for Naruto, the claws were to large to pass through the holes of the gates and never reached Naruto.

"**How I would love to break out of this cage and eat you up," **The voice said, **"But this damned seal that the fourth placed on the gates here is holding me back!"**

Naruto continued to glare at the two red-eyes and Naruto finally gathered up the courage to ask, "So… you are… the Kyuubi?"

"**I guess you're not as dumb as you look."** The monster replied and Naruto could see the Kyuubi actually grinning, an evil kind of grin.

"What do you want?" Naruto questioned, gulping.

"**It is simple. I am sealed within you and if you die, I die…**" The nine-tail explained, **"Even though I am trapped here, I do not want to die just yet. However, you being a weakling, are losing to that red-haired ninja. I cannot allow you to die and I am here to help."**

Before Naruto could ask what he meant, red chakra appeared from the kyuubi and surrounded Naruto. Naruto has never felt so… so alive before. The red chakra made Naruto feel so much stronger. Naruto looked at the kyuubi once more but the monster was no longer there.

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Gaara still has his right palm closed and was confused that he could still feel Naruto's chakra within his sand. The 'desert graveyard' technique was a technique that could kill any ninja on the spot, no matter how strong they are, but here was Naruto, still alive. Gaara was about to put in more chakra when Gaara heard a scream.

Naruto screamed for his life and released such a large amount of chakra that the chakra leaked out of Naruto's body. Chakra was so small that if someone was actually able to use a technique until the chakra could be seen, it was said that the technique was an A-rank technique, like the Raikiri or the Rasengan.

The chakra coming out of Naruto's body was so powerful that it easily destroyed Gaara's technique, allowing Naruto to get out of the prison. To actually say that Gaara was shocked would be an understatement. Gaara never expected this to happen.

Naruto was free. Naruto looked at his left palm and then his right palm. Naruto was now leaking out red chakra from his body and if someone was looking at Naruto from a distance, one would think that Naruto was on fire. Naruto clenched his right fist and knew that he was now ready to face Gaara. Naruto has never felt so much power in his life.

Naruto looked at Gaara, "Let's finish this!"

With that, Naruto charged forward with such incredible speed that Gaara never saw Naruto coming at him. Naruto delivered a blow to Gaara's right cheek and Gaara was sent backwards so far that the distance between Naruto and Gaara now was precisely a mile away.

Gaara groaned in pain. Despite his whole body being covered in super strong armour, Naruto's punch was actually able to hurt Gaara. Gaara touched his right cheek and the sand on his right cheek has disappeared. Gaara, for the first time in his life, felt fear.

"Your ass is mine!" Gaara heard the voice coming from behind him.

Gaara turned to look behind him and he was now staring right into the eyes of Naruto. The two Gennins were now standing face-to-face, with only a few inches apart.

"Let us two monsters fight each other to the death…" Naruto said with malice in his voice.

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Haruno Maki was kneed hard on the gut by the Sand Jounin. It really hurt that Maki coughed out blood and the next Maki knew, he was punched hard on his left cheek which sent him crashing on a wall. Maki could feel blood seeping out of his mouth. From above, a Sound Chuunin threw three shurikens at Maki and Maki was a little too slow, feeling one of the shuriken cutting his right shoulder.

'Damn it,' Maki thought as he hid behind a pillar, 'There are simply too many of them.'

"It's no use hiding, you bastard!" The Sand Jounin shouted as he sprinted to where Maki was hiding. When he found Maki leaning behind the pillar, he stabbed Maki in the gut with his kunai, but Maki disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Wha…"

"You're a bit too slow." The real Maki said from behind and stabbed the Sand Jounin in the back with his custom kunai, which was drenched with blood. Maki now only had six of his custom kunai's left. Maki was exhausted. He only has about a quarter of his chakra left, he has been beaten up by various ninjas and he was stabbed by a kunai earlier in the gut, but luckily for him, he was able to grab the man's wrist on time, so the kunai was not very deep. And just a few seconds ago, he was scratched by a shuriken.

"Lightning release! The…"

The Sound Chuunin was about to cast a technique but Maki quickly took out a brand new custom kunai and threw it at the Sound Chuunin. The kunai hit the man in the shoulder, blood spilling on it and a new clone was created. The Sound Chuunin stopped the technique due to the pain and the clone quickly finished the Chuunin off.

"Yamato!" Maki called out, "We should fall back… We can't keep this up!"

Yamato blocked several shurikens and kunai's thrown at him with his katana and quickly created a wall made out of wood from the ground to stop the advancing ninjas. Yamato landed next to Maki and they knew that they only have five seconds to make a decision before the ninjas climb over Yamato's wall.

"We can't fall back," Yamato said, looking at the wall he made, "If the enemies capture the west area, Konoha will be in trouble since they can use this area as a gathering point."

"What choice do we have?" Maki replied angrily, "You and me are the only remaining ninjas here. The other Chuunins are injured. If we stay here, we will be killed."

"What about your shadow clones? You are the 'replicator,' and…"

"It won't be enough," Maki interrupted, "My clones will dispel in just one hit so…"

Before Maki could finish his sentence, the arrival of a new ninja stopped their argument. Yamato, beneath his ANBU mask was relieved to see him while Maki just sighed in exhaustion but was also glad that he has arrived.

"Kakashi-senpai…" Yamato called out, bowing his head a little.

Kakashi nodded as an approval and looked at the wounded pink haired Jounin, "Had a tough time, Maki?"

"You got that right," Maki replied, "But this position is lost. We have to fall back."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "That will not be necessary."

At that point, several ninjas flew past Kakashi and headed to the wall that Yamato built. Maki recognised them as ANBU black opts and there were about four squads. Behind them, five ANBU squads followed and they disappeared beneath the wall, taking on the Sound and Sand ninjas. Kakashi landed between Yamato and Kakashi.

"It has been a long time, Yamato…" Kakashi said, looking at the ANBU ninja.

The ANBU ninja removed his mask, revealing the ninja's face. He has brown hair and he was wearing some sort of mask that covered the sides of his face. Yamato bowed and at the same time, placed the katana into it's sheath.

"Thank goodness you arrived with help, Kakashi-senpai."

"I am no longer your senpai, Yamato." Kakashi corrected. Kakashi turned to Maki, "I'm glad you were able to defend this position till we arrived."

Maki released a tired breath, "I was about to retreat but we have more important matters." Maki gathered up his breath, "We need to reinforce the north area. There is…"

"A giant snake summon," Kakashi finished the sentence, catching Maki by surprise, "I know but you needn't worry. Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama has returned and is taking care of that area."

"Jiraiya-sama? And also Tsunade-sama?!" Maki was now really surprised, "What is she doing back in Konoha?"

Kakashi shrugged, looking in the direction of the north area of Konoha, "But I'm glad she's back."

"Now then," Yamato started, "Let's get rid of these foreign ninjas out of our homeland."

The two Jounin's couldn't agree more as they climbed over the wall and fought their enemies.

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After a monstrous battle, Naruto has completely used up his newfound powers and a cost too. Although his chakra was restored, it cost him a lot of stamina and he was exhausted. Gaara was no longer in his fortified sand form as Naruto has destroyed all of it and Gaara too, was exhausted and bleeding badly. The two ninjas were panting heavily.

"Let's let the next attack settle the score between us…" Naruto said, still panting.

Gaara did not respond but Naruto took that as an agreement. Finally, the two Jinchuuriki's will decide the winner, and whoever was the first one to deliver the blow would be the winner.


	35. End of the invasion

**Alright guys, here is the update for the new chapter. I hope this chapter was not too short. Apologies if I did not reach up to your expectations. Oh yes, a few people have 'PM' me asking about Naruto's outfit. I failed to mention this, but Naruto, in my story, is not wearing his orange jumpsuit. He's still wearing his orange pants but his clothe is the black shirt he wears inside the orange jumpsuit in the cannon. I don't know, but I prefer Naruto to wear the black shirt.**

**As for Sakura, almost everything is the same, only unlike the cannon, she never cut off her hair. Remember that. **

**Well, that's all for now. Hope you guys enjoed this chapter and please review.**

**Next chapter, "Aftermath of the invasion"**

CHAPTER 35: THE END OF THE INVASION

In training ground number fourteen, no one would even recognise the area if they had come here. Even if the person that used this place to train everyday would not recognise the area. Training ground number fourteen was completely destroyed. All the trees were destroyed, there were small and large craters on the ground and the grass seemed to have burnt off, leaving only the earth as the ground.

This was the result of Naruto's sudden increase in power. When Naruto was filled with the nine-tailed's chakra, his attacks were so powerful that it not only affected Gaara but also the surroundings. The craters were a result of Naruto landing on the ground, the grass burnt because of his chakra and the three blown off because all of Naruto's attacks caused Gaara to land on the bark of a tree and blow the tree of. One would think that this scene was only possible for a Kage level battle.

But now, both Naruto and Gaara were exhausted. Gaara actually thought he was going to die in the hands on Naruto but it looks like Naruto's increase in power took a toll in his body for Naruto looked like he could move no more. However, Gaara was the same. All the blows he received from Naruto had not only destroyed his sand armour but also his injuries were too much to bear.

"This is the end for us…" Naruto said weakly as he straightened himself up.

Gaara was still slightly crouched for the gourd on his back was too heavy for his weakened body to carry, "How… How…?"

"How what?" Naruto asked.

"How can you be so powerful?" Gaara questioned as he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

Naruto smirked, "I will tell you that if I win."

Finally, mustering all the energy he could, Naruto leaped at Gaara and Gaara leaped at Naruto. From afar, it was a scene to behold watching two ninjas lunge at each other at the same time with the sun shining on the two of them. Naruto concentrated all of his energy in his right fist and so did Gaara, on his left fist. Naruto could feel the dried blood on his mouth as the wind blew against it. The two finally reached one another and Gaara was the first to deliver, but Naruto moved his neck away to avoid the punch. Naruto retaliated and Gaara was hit by Naruto's fist, sending Gaara backwards.

The two landed on the ground, Gaara on his back while Naruto on his front. The two were unmoving but it was obvious that Gaara has lost. Gaara could taste his own blood as he laid on the ground as if he was dead. Naruto was trembling from exhaustion and he looked at Gaara, his ocean blue eyes staring into Gaara's cold eyes.

"How…?" Gaara said weakly, "How can you be this strong?"

Naruto tried to crawl close to Gaara, but he was too tired, "I… You tried to destroy my homeland… My friends… They are important to me. We were the same, weren't we? In our childhood?"

Gaara's eyes widen upon hearing this. Gaara thought back on those dark moments when he was despised by the adults and children would call him a monster and would not want to even approach him. Those were painful memories and the only friend Gaara had and could trust was his uncle, his mother's brother. However, Gaara found out that his uncle never loved him and only pretended to. He even tried to kill Gaara. Gaara stopped those thoughts. They were too painful and Gaara, without even noticing, had a tear roll down his cheek.

Naruto noticed the tear and continued, "Yeah, those were hard times for people like us…" Naruto choked, "People like us who have monsters sealed within us. But unlike you, I have friends now. I don't know how horrible your childhood was, but I have many friends now."

Naruto thought of his first encounter with Maki. Naruto was chased by a group of angry mob when Maki appeared and treated him to a bowl of Ramen and then bringing Naruto to the Hokage to give him an apartment. Naruto thought of Sakura, how she had befriended him and how Naruto had his first crush on her in the academy. Naruto thought of Ino, despite never liking her in the academy grew fond of her when they became team seven. And finally Sasuke, his rival and one of his closest guy friends. The two always fought one another but Naruto was happy that Sasuke finally smiled after months of brooding when Naruto played a prank of Maki. That was the first time Sasuke actually laughed.

Naruto had tears rolling down his cheek, "That's why… If you try to take my precious people away, I will not hesitate to kill you. They are the one's who made me who I am today and I will not let you take them away from me."

Gaara was speechless as he listened to every word that Naruto just said. Gaara looked at Naruto and thought, 'Is that why he was so powerful? Because he wanted to protect his loved ones?'

Gaara knew he has already failed his mission anyway so even if he could continue the fight, he wouldn't. Gaara realised that Naruto was far stronger than Gaara since Naruto fought for his loved one while Gaara only fought for himself. Gaara was supposed to transform into the Shukaku for his mission but he failed at that. Gaara looked into the sky.

'Uzumaki Naruto…' Gaara thought, 'Interesting. Maybe, I can one day be like him.'

Naruto struggled to get up but failed miserably. At that moment, both wounded Gennins could hear some rustling of leaves from the east and both turned. A few seconds later, Sakura appeared and she was relieved to find that the fight was over with Naruto still breathing. She quickly ran to him and then kneeled next to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura said with worry in her voice, "Are you alright?"

Naruto smiled weakly, "I beat him, Sakura-Chan…"

Sakura looked at the wounded Gaara and then looked back at Naruto, "I'm glad you're still okay."

With that, Sakura started to heal Naruto's scratches on his arm. Sakura was no medic-ninja but she did have a small amount of knowledge in basic healing. It should be enough to heal Naruto at least a little bit.

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto asked as Sakura continued to heal him, "Did you beat her?"

Sakura snorted, "Not really. I just trapped her in a powerful genjutsu. It should hold her for a while."

Naruto inspected Sakura, "I don't see any wounds on you."

"Trust me," Sakura replied, "My battle was pretty boring. All she did was use wind techniques against me while I hid behind a tree. The only problem I had against her was I couldn't find an opening. She finally made a mistake, I cast a genjutsu and here I am."

Naruto chuckled and finally was able to sit, "At least we're okay."

Before Sakura could reply, the arrival of a new ninja caught their attention. Temari was now kneeling next to Gaara and both Konoha Gennins could see that she was in a shock looking at Gaara's defeated form. Naruto couldn't blame her. Judging from Gaara's insane rampage, there were few that could beat him but luckily for Naruto, Naruto had the help of the kyuubi, if not, Naruto would have been dead by now.

Temari looked at Gaara and then in anger, drew out her large fan, prepared to fight Sakura and Naruto when she felt someone softly grabbing her left ankle. Temari looked down at Gaara.

"Enough," Gaara said weakly, "The fight ends now…"

Temari could not believe her ears this was definitely not Gaara, not her blood-thirsty brother. Gaara continued, "Let's return home. I don't care whether the other Sand ninjas are still fighting or not, but our business is over here. We're going back to the village."

"But Gaara…." Temari started to protest but Gaara silenced her.

"It's enough for today. Let's just find Kankurou, get him, and get out of here."

Temari hesitated for one second and finally gave in. She placed her large fan on her back and helped Gaara up. Temari placed Gaara's right arm over her shoulder and then left the training grounds. As Temari jumped over a tree branch, she looked at Gaara. Gaara was a bit in a daze.

'Uzumaki Naruto…' Gaara thought.

"Temari?" Gaara called weakly.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to… apologize for anything I have done wrong towards you. I will apologize to Kankurou later." Gaara said and after that, lost consciousness.

Temari was shocked. Gaara was actually apologizing?! That was something new. Temari shook her head and concentrated to make sure to not encounter any Konoha ninjas. They were retreating back now and with Gaara now unconscious, it would be trouble for her. First thing's first, she needed to get Kankurou.

Naruto and Sakura were now jumping from tree branch to tree branch, but at an extremely slow rate due to Naruto's injuries. They have decided to head back to the academy and hopefully find Sasuke over there. After all, that was where they last left him unless his fight with the puppeteer was moved elsewhere.

"I wonder if Sasuke is okay?" Sakura mumbled but Naruto had heard it.

"Stop worrying," Naruto assured her, "That guy is too proud to lose to someone who uses puppets as a means of attacking."

Sakura nodded but was still worried, "And I sure hope uncle Maki is okay."

Naruto did not reply immediately, "I'm sure he's fine. That guy is as stubborn as Sasuke and he don't die that easily."

Sakura turned to look at Naruto, "How can you be so sure? This is war here and he's against numerous ninjas."

"Don't worry," Naruto assured Sakura once more, "He'll be fine…"

The two were silent after that. They continued on jumping when Sakura suddenly said, "By the way, seeing that Gaara was let off, did we complete our A-rank mission? According to you, you said we had to eliminate Gaara."

Naruto thought about that and simply said, "Oh… Shit!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Haruno Maki sat with his back on a wall, allowing the ANBU medic-nin heal his wound in the gut where he was stabbed. Luckily the wound was not deep. The western area of Konoha was finally under control thanks to the arrival of the ANBU black opts. It was now under Konoha's control and that was why Maki was allowed to rest up and get healed.

"So, what now?" Maki asked Kakashi.

Kakashi and Maki were currently on a rooftop and Kakashi was surveying the area. Indeed, the western area was under control and Kakashi just needed to make sure all Sand or Sound ninjas were killed or driven off. Kakashi's back was facing Maki.

"I think we should head back to the stadium," Kakashi decided, turning to look at Maki, "After all, it looks like the battle between Hokage-sama and Orochimaru might be coming to an end…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well," Kakashi scratched his silver hair, "I think I saw Tsunade-sama heading in that direction a few seconds ago."

Maki was already healed and stood up, "Tsunade-sama? What's she doing? I thought she was in the north area of Konoha?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Maybe Jiraiya-sama could handle things over there by himself."

"Alright then," Maki took out a brand new custom kunai, leaving with only two more in his back pouch, "Let's go."

With that, the two Jounins of Konoha leaped off the roof and headed for the stadium. The two could see in the distance the purple shield that contains the Hokage and Orochimaru was filled with vines and trees. That was weird. Who could have used wood techniques? That was not important though.

As they continued to jump, a Sand Jounin suddenly leaped out from below, nearly slashing Kakashi. Maki created a shadow clone and Maki kicked the Sand Jounin in the gut, and the clone delivered an upper-cut, sending the Sand Jounin high in to the air. Kakashi threw a kunai wrapped with an explosion tag and the kunai plunged into the man's thigh and exploded, blowing the ninja into pieces.

"Good teamwork." Maki complimented. After all, the two were on missions on several occasions so they knew how to work.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask, "Teamwork has always been important to me."

For a brief second there, Maki could see a brief hint of sadness in Kakashi's eyes but it was gone in an instant. Maki knew of Kakashi's team mate and how it had changed Kakashi. Never mind that now. They had to concentrate. It took them three minutes to arrive and in the stadium, it was filled with Konoha ninjas and lots of dead bodies and sleeping civilians. The two could see that Gai and other elite Jounins were already assembled at the rooftop, watching the Hokage's match from the outside.

"Where's Asuma?" Maki asked Gai.

"He went after you, to the northern area. You didn't see him?" Gai replied with a curious look, raising one of his thick eyebrow.

Maki shook his head.

"What's the current situation of the Hokage?" Kakashi questioned without looking at Gai.

"We're not sure," Gai replied, "But we saw the two a second ago engaging in combat. It seems that Orochimaru was using some sort of sword and the Hokage with a black stick. We're not sure how these… trees grew."

"Can't we get in?" Maki asked.

Gai shook his head, "You touch that purple shield and you'll burn to death. Those four Sound ninjas are the one that cast the shield. You want to get in, you have to eliminate them first."

Maki cursed softly. All they do was just sit here and wait, watching their leader of the village fighting his former student. Maki knew that sitting here doing nothing was useless. Maki stood up and got questioning looks from the two elite Jounins.

"I'm going to patrol around Konoha, see what I can find." Maki explained and with that, went off.

Kakashi watched until Maki disappeared from sight. Kakashi then put his attention into the arena where the Hokage was. He revealed his Sharingan in hopes that he could find the Hokage but it was impossible. There were too many trees and only with the Byakugan could you find through this mess.

"What are all of you doing?" A female voice questioned.

All Konoha ninjas turned to find the female Sannin staring at them.

"We can't get in, Tsunade-sama," An ANBU ninja explained, "If we touch the shield, we'll burn to death."

"What about if we enter from below?" Tsunade asked, her voice impatient.

"I guess that is possible… but…"

Without waiting for the reply, Tsunade charged her left fist and slammed the rooftop, destroying the roof and forced some of the surrounding ninjas to jump away. Tsunade jumped into the hole and the Konoha ninjas wondered what she was up to. After ten seconds, from the inside of the shield, the roof was destroyed once more and Tsunade appeared. Tsunade must have entered from below.

All of the Konoha ninjas just stared at the female Sannin and then, quickly jumped into the hole and a few seconds later, they found themselves in the purple shield. It looks like now, they can all go after Orochimaru.

"Let's go and find the old man." Tsunade said as she ran, leading the Konoha ninjas. The Konoha ninjas have never been so motivated until today as they followed one of the former students of the third Hokage.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto and Sakura were finally out of the training grounds and were back into the streets of Konoha. They could see thick black smoke still rising into the sky. The two were thankful that no Sound or Sand ninjas were nearby and quickly ran off into the direction of the academy.

The two passed by shops and houses that were badly damaged and could hear moans of villagers that were injured. Sakura pitied them but she and Naruto had more important matters to take care of first. They could hear from where they were the screams of dying and the sound of battle. It looks like the invasion was still far from over.

Suddenly, a figure appeared right in front of them and both Naruto and Sakura stopped dead in their tracks, quickly drawing out kunai's. That was when they recognised the figure and sighed in relief, especially Sakura.

"Uncle Maki…" Sakura said, relieved that her uncle was fine but she could see that her uncle had been through a lot. For one, he had lots of scratches and dried blood on his clothes and on his face.

"Sakura," Maki greeted, "Naruto. I'm glad you two are safe."

"Maki-sensei," Naruto started, placing his kunai back, "It's really good to see you."

Maki smiled and then realised someone was missing, "Where's Sasuke?"

"We're going to him right now," Naruto answered, "He should be in the academy. That was where we last left him off."

Maki nodded and he lead the two Gennin, Sakura on his right while Naruto on his left. The three were careful to avoid stepping on any of the dead bodies as they made their way to the academy. There were a few Sand or Sound ninjas that flew by above them, but they never noticed them. Some stood in their way, but Maki easily finished them off and they just continued on their run. However, this time an elite Sound Jounin appeared with a kunai drawn.

"What's a Sound Jounin doing so far out of the battle?" Maki questioned but he continued on running, drawing out a brand new custom kunai with only one more custom kunai remaining in Maki's back pouch. The Sound Jounin was prepared and when the two Jounins met, their kunai's clashed against the other. However, Maki's kunai was smaller and lighter, therefore, Maki was able to attack much more quicker but the Sound Jounin was skilled, avoiding and blocking his attacks until Maki finally found an opening and slashed the Sound Jounin's left forearm. Blood spilled on the custom kunai and Maki and the clone both kicked the Sound Jounin in the chest, sending him backwards, ten metres separating them.

Naruto took the opportunity to form seals for his A-rank wind technique.

"Wind release! Bleeding force!"

As Naruto blew out the ball of air, Maki stepped aside and formed seals of his own.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

With the presence of the 'bleeding force,' Maki's fireball grew in size and the Sound Jounin was destroyed in the explosion. The reason why Maki decided for a combination was because he was up against an elite Jounin and with Maki's current condition, he didn't want to take any chances. Maki was panting now.

"Uncle Maki, are you okay?" A concerned Sakura asked.

"I'll live. Come on, let's get to the academy."

Five minutes later, the three Konoha ninjas finally reached the academy. The three approached it slowly and entered through the back entrance. Naruto led the way since he knew where Sasuke should be. They were on the third floor and started inspecting each and every classroom. Finally, they found Sasuke in one of the classrooms, lying on his back and panting heavily. Sasuke was also clearly in pain as he was sweating.

"Sasuke," Naruto ran and kneeled next to the Uchiha, "You okay?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and weakly nodded, "Damn it, I thought you guys were dead?"

"And what gave you that impression?" Sakura asked, now next to Naruto.

"Well," Sasuke coughed, "The two Sand ninjas returned and grabbed the puppeteer and left. I thought you guys were defeated. Strange though, they just grabbed their team mate and left, didn't even bother to finish me off."

Naruto smirked, "That's because we beat them."

"And you didn't kill them?!" Maki questioned with anger in his voice, "You let them get away? Your mission was to eliminate him."

"I couldn't…" Naruto replied, "That guy, Gaara. He's the same as me, Maki-sensei. I'm sure you know what I mean by that. He suffered in his childhood and never got the chance to have happiness in his life. I just couldn't."

All were silent after that. Maki could see that Naruto shared Gaara's pain, despite being enemies. Maki continued to watch Naruto's back in awe, surprised that Naruto cared for others so much, even if they were his enemies. And for that brief second, Maki could see from behind that Naruto looked exactly like his father's back. From that moment on, Maki knew that Naruto would definitely carry on his father's legacy and perhaps even one day, surpass his own father. Sasuke's coughing brought everyone's attention.

"Sasuke," Maki said, concerned now, "You've been coughing for the past minute and it's not from your wounds since you barely have any. What's wrong?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth in pain, gasping now, "I think I inhaled some of that guy's poison smoke earlier on. I…"

Sasuke could continue no more as he coughed blood this time, just a small amount but it was enough to concern Maki, being Sasuke's teacher after all. Maki quickly got to his feet.

"I want the two of you to take care of him while I find something that should be able to try and slow his poison down." Maki ordered and with that, he left the three Gennins behind.

Naruto looked down at Sasuke, "I never thought I would get to see you so beat up."

Sasuke laughed a little, a weak laugh, "Shut up, dobe. So many crazy stuff happened today."

Sasuke was dared not to mention that earlier on in the fight, his cursed seal had started to throb and it hurt Sasuke, but Sasuke knew that it was just pushing Sasuke to use the seal's power. Sasuke fought it off, remembering Kakashi's words that it was Sasuke's own will that could hold it off. It looks like Kakashi was right.

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto said, looking at Sakura, "Can you heal at least even a little bit?"

"I'm quite low in chakra and…" Sakura started to explain but Sasuke cut her off.

"I don't need it," Sasuke told the two, "I'll be fine. After all, my wounds are inside my body, not the surface."

"Oh, right…" Naruto scratched his head, blushing lightly.

"Idiot…" Both Sakura and Sasuke said at the same time and despite the situation, the three shared a heartfelt laugh. They were not aware that Maki had entered the room and watched the whole scene. This was what he had originally wanted. Maki wanted team seven to be comprised of these three ninjas and the way he saw it, it would have been a perfect team.

"Alright," Maki said, startling the three Gennin, "This was all I could find in the nurse's office. I'm quite surprised that the academy has all these medicines. It should be able to slow cure some of Sasuke's poison until it's not life threatening but we will have to draw out the poison completely once this is all over."

Maki got on his knees and gave Sasuke a bottle of pills. Maki took out two pills and gave it to Sasuke. Without any need of water, Sasuke took the pills and swallowed the pills in one gulp. The four ninjas rest for a few minutes and decided to move out.

"Where are we headed?" Sasuke asked as they walked out of the academy.

"To the stadium."

"Wasn't that where we were from before this mess started?" Naruto questioned and Maki nodded.

"Let's get going."

The three Gennins nodded and they followed behind the pink haired Jounin as they ran in the deserted streets of Konoha, watching each others back and hoping no enemy ninjas would appear. Maki hoped so. He only has one custom kunai left and he did not want to face any enemy ninjas at this stage.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside of Konoha, the Sand ninjas were all retreating as their snake summon was utterly defeated by the 'Toad Sannin's' giant toad. Now, Jiraiya was on a rampage as he easily defeated Sand and Sound Jounin left and right, pushing the enemies out of Konoha.

"Himura-san," A Sand Chuunin called out, "What the hell do we do now? We've already been driven out. Do we try to push on one more time?"

Himura shook her head, placing her large fan on the ground, "It's impossible to push on now. That bastard toad is too much for us to handle and with our only entrance to Konoha blocked, we cannot reinforce our comrades. The western area of Konoha is now under Konoha, the stadium is lost and so is the eastern area. All vital positions of Konoha are lost."

"So what do we do?" A different Sand Chuunin asked as she stepped next to the female elite Sand Jounin.

"We'll fall back…" Himura finally said.

"Fall back where?" An elite Sand Jounin asked, "This is our last stand. We fall back anymore and…"

"The day is lost," Himura stated, "If we cannot reinforce our comrades inside Konoha and we cannot push in, how do we proceed?"

"And what about Kazekage-sama?" The man asked, raising one of his eyebrow.

Himura shook her head, "We have to leave him behind. He should be able to retreat on his own, reading the situation we're in. We're heading back to the Sand village."

With that, Himura turned back and walked away. Some of the Sand ninjas hesitated then followed her while others ignored her words and continued to push on. Himura now walked away her former homeland, utterly defeated. She took one last glance at Konoha and then walked away. Himura was defeated by Maki earlier on, and he spared her life. Himura sighed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki finally reached the stadium and his students were right behind him as they landed in the arena. Maki was surprised that Konoha had finally regained control of this area. There were ANBU ninjas stationed around the stadium, watching the area and some medic-nin's healing the wounded.

"The three of you stay here," Maki instructed, "I need to find out the current situation."

Maki approached a Konoha Jounin, "Comrade, what's the situation?"

"Maki-san," The Konoha Jounin bowed slightly, "Tsunade-sama, the ANBU and other elite Jounins have entered the purple shield to assist Hokage-sama. That's all I know."

Maki was surprised, "They have entered? How?"

The Konoha Jounin looked up at the rooftop, "Tsunade-sama destroyed the roof, went below and destroyed the ceiling from below, thus opening a pathway to enter. I'm not sure what's going on right now but… Hei, the shield has disappeared…"

Maki cocked his head to the right and looked up. Sure enough, the shield was gone and Maki was about to jump to the rooftop when he saw four ninjas, all Sound ninjas carrying Orochimaru away. They were actually retreating. Maki watched closely and then, two ANBU ninjas were in pursuit until one of the Sound bodyguards with four hands spat some sort of net on the ANBU ninjas, thus helping in their escape.

Maki took out his last custom kunai and decided to use it. Maki took his time and threw his custom kunai at the largest of the group. The four Sound bodyguards were safe when the female ninja saw something from below.

"Hei," She said roughly, "Just what the fuck is that?!"

Her other three comrades turned only to find something slash the large man's right shoulder. The large man, having a small amount of orange hair yelled in pain and out of nowhere, a puff of smoke was created and the clone of Maki appeared.

"What the…?" The purple haired bodyguard said, surprised.

The clone took out a kunai and slashed the orange haired bodyguard once more on the chest, wounding the ninja. The three quickly attacked together and destroyed the clone. The large orange-haired bodyguard clutched his chest in pain as they escaped. Maki watched from below and shrugged. He tried.

Maki jumped up to the rooftop and found his students already there, waving at him to get his attention. Well, Naruto was waving while Sakura and Sasuke, along with other elite Jounins were in a circle, looking at something.

"What's going on?" Maki asked Naruto.

"It's the old man," Naruto said softly, a small hint of sadness, "He's injured badly…"

Maki's eyes widen and pushed his comrades way until he saw it. Sure enough, the third Hokage was on the ground, his mouth filled with blood but he was still breathing. Maki sighed in relief. The third's summon, a monkey, was clutching the old man's right palm. Tsunade was healing the old man's chest, a wound on the chest.

"What's going on?" Maki asked Kakashi.

Kakashi shook his head, "When we entered the arena, we found the Hokage doing the seals for the 'death god' technique, the same technique the fourth used to seal the nine-tails. However, we stopped him on time but that allowed Orochimaru to stab the Hokage with his sword. It seems that Orochimaru's sword was filled with poison. The Hokage is alive, but not for long."

Maki stopped breathing and looked at the Hokage. Tsunade was healing him. Kakashi knew what Maki wanted to say.

"It's no use," Kakashi explained, "Tsunade is barely keeping him alive. As long as Tsunade keeps on healing him, the Hokage will live but how long will her chakra last?"

Maki pushed Kakashi aside and approached Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama, is there anything we can do to try save his life?"

Tsunade shook her head, "There is nothing I can do, unless I have certain herbs that I require. However, the medic-nin's have already informed me that they do not have the herbs I need."

Upon hearing that, Maki got up on his feet, his eyes filled with hope. Tsunade saw this and wondered what this pink-haired ninja was thinking. Maki got out of the crowd of ninjas and approached Sakura.

"Sakura," Maki said, his voice loud, "Where's Ino?"

"She's still in the stadium, sleeping from the genjutsu. Why?"

Maki simply smiled as a response. It looks like perhaps the invasion of Konoha was not a loss to everyone. Konoha perhaps have just suffered damages but maybe, the third will live. The invasion of Konoha was now over. Konoha has won thanks to the ninjas of Konoha that fought so bravely for their beloved home.


	36. Aftermath of the invasion

**Alright, here's the update guys. This chapter is kind of short. So I hope you guys enjoy this story and please review.**

**Next chapter, "Reconstruction of Konoha."**

CHAPTER 36: AFTERMATH OF THE INVASION

Konoha was a mess. The southern area of Konoha was still consumed by flames but now several ninjas were trying to put out the flames with water techniques while the villagers that were able to help were taking buckets of water and tossing it into the flames. It will take at least a half of an hour before the flames would be put out.

Now that all of the Sound and Sand ninjas have been killed or driven out of Konoha, the Konoha ninjas and ANBU forces could concentrate on gathering the wounded, both villagers and ninjas, and taking them to the hospital to heal. Everywhere around Konoha, everyone were busy with the exception of the villagers in the stadium who were still trapped in the sleeping genjutsu.

Iruka and Anko were now leading the villagers that they evacuated earlier back to Konoha. The children were frightened at the sight of their destroyed village. They could see the black smoke rising. Iruka sighed. They were lucky they were not born during the time of the great ninja war, that's for sure.

"Lead them to the hospital," An ANBU ninja told Anko.

"You don't have to tell me, I know what I'm doing." Anko informed the ANBU ninja.

Elsewhere, the northern area of Konoha, Jiraiya and his toad were no longer there. None knew what happened to him. The moment Jiraiya had defeated all of the Sand and Sound ninjas, he had disappeared. He did not even bother to stay and help carry the wounded to the hospital. The male villagers that were not injured or badly injured were busy trying to repair the massive gate of Konoha. Well, at least gather the pieces of the gate.

As for the western area of Konoha, that area would be one of the worst areas since the invasion. There were so many wounded Konoha Chuunin and Jounin's there that some of the ANBU black opts were surprised that the enemy never gained that position. The ANBU were busy carrying the wounded to the hospital to allow the medic-nin's to heal them.

"What about the dead ninjas?" An ANBU squad leader asked an ANBU black opt, whom was wearing a hawk mask.

The ANBU black opt shook his head, "We will have to bury them after we deal with this mess. I hope they will forgive us, but the priority of the live one's comes first."

Indeed that Konoha has suffered a lot ever since the invasion but so did the Sand village. They have lost countless amount of their Jounin and Chuunin. This invasion will bring major drawbacks to both village's since these two are comprised of the five major power.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Have you found her?" Maki asked as he looked from one row of seats.

"Not yet…" Naruto replied as he also continued the search for their team mate, Ino.

Maki has already asked the medic-nin a list of what herbs they would need so that Tsunade can help save the Hokage's life. There were three herbs and from what Maki know, these herbs are extremely rare. For one thing, to create such a herb, you need to mix up with some other herb or flowers.

Sasuke has activated his Sharingan in hopes that it would make the search easier. Although his teacher has not told him or Naruto why they needed to find her, Sasuke just obeyed. As Sasuke searched, he touched his cursed seal. Sasuke saw that Orochimaru escaping earlier and he hoped that would be the last time he would see him.

"No luck over here." Sakura said as she checked a row of seats, "Why don't we just release the genjutsu? Perhaps that would make it easier."

"No," Maki answered, "If they all wake up at the same time, they will panic seeing the dead bodies and their village damaged. That will make it harder for us to find Ino."

Sakura nodded at Maki's logic and continued to search. The reason why Maki also had not asked for any other ninja's help was because they were busy carrying wounded ninjas to the hospital or maybe repairing the damage. No, this was something that he and his team had to do.

Finally after three minutes of searching, Sakura finally found Ino sited and still sleeping. Sakura quickly placed her fingertips of Ino's forehead and then gathered a small amount of chakra on her fingertips.

"Release!"

Instantly, Ino's eyes opened slowly. Ino blinked her eyes a few times, adjusting to the light and then she turned to look at Sakura. Sakura could see that Ino was obviously confused.

"Wha…What happened? When did I fall asleep?" Ino asked, rubbing her right eye.

"You were caught in a genjutsu and…" Sakura was explaining but Ino was not listening to what Sakura was saying. Ino was surveying her surroundings and the sight confused her. She could see the villagers were all sleeping and she could see ANBU ninjas stationed around the stadium, some helping injured ninjas. Ino also saw from here that in the sky there was smoke rising.

"What happened?" Ino finally asked.

By this time, Naruto, Maki and Sasuke had arrived and Maki could see from Ino's expression that she was demanding an explanation. Sakura turned to look at her uncle, wondering what to do. Maki sighed and kneeled down.

"Ino," Maki started, "We will all explain to you what happened while you were

'asleep' but for now, I need you to help us identify this list of herbs. It is important that we do this quick."

Ino was lost. She just woke up and she could see everything was destroyed and here were her teacher and friends telling her to go through a list of herbs? Just was going on. Ino was about to refuse when Sasuke stepped up.

"Ino," Sasuke said, his voice husky, "Please, this is important."

Ino blushed and quickly nodded. Maki did not even hesitate for a second to give Ino the list of herbs that the medic-nin's gave earlier. For once, Sasuke used his charms to good use. However, Maki will need to have a little talk with the young Uchiha on not playing with a person's feelings.

"Did you just…" Naruto whispered but Sasuke elbowed Naruto in the gut, stopping Naruto's sentence.

"You mention this to anyone and I'll beat you up." Sasuke hissed without looking at Naruto.

Naruto gave a mischievous grin, "Oh, what makes you think you can beat me up?"

The two male Gennins of team seven were now engaged in an argument but they did this softly. Sakura sighed, wondering how her uncle could tolerate those two every single day. Ino scanned through the list and she recognised all three of the herbs. They were extremely rare around Konoha and to get them was either through nature or you mix them with different kind of flowers.

"Yeah, I know the herbs." Ino finally said after scanning through the list, "They are extremely rare in Konoha but…"

Maki grabbed Ino by the shoulders, "Do you have any of them in your flower shop?"

"Huh? What do…" Ino started but Maki asked interrupted.

"Do you have any of them in your shop?!" Maki asked, his voice louder this time.

Ino quickly nodded her head, "Yes, the third one. I created them by mixing three different flowers and then it became this herb. The other two herbs are also available, but they are not that rare. They should be easy to find."

With that, Maki got to his feet and turned to look at his team, "Naruto, you, me and Ino are going to go to Ino's family flower shop. As for Sasuke and Sakura, I want the two of you to remain here and help the ninjas here that ask for assistance."

Without another word, Maki grabbed Ino and leaped off the stands and headed for Ino's flower shop, which was on the eastern side of Konoha. Naruto was left behind but quickly caught up since he was unprepared. The two were now jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Maki carrying Ino like a child.

"Maki-sensei, you can let me go now!" Ino said in an angry tone.

"No chance," Maki retorted, "We need to get there quickly."

"Maki-sensei," Naruto called out from behind, "Why did you have to bring me?"

Maki glanced back at Naruto, "For one, you and me can use the shadow clone technique. Just in case Ino might need some help to locate certain herb or flower, our clones can help speed things up."

Naruto was impressed, "You already thought of this that fast?"

Maki chuckled, "Trust me Naruto, when you're a Jounin, you have to think and act fast. Don't worry, you will have that ability with time and experience."

After that, there were no more conversation as the two continued on their destination. From here, Ino saw everything. Whatever had happened, Konoha was in a bad condition as there damaged buildings and to the south, thick black smoke rising. It took them three minutes when they finally reached the eastern area of Konoha. They jumped down and ran down the streets until they finally reached Ino's family flower shop.

"Alright," Maki said as he dropped Ino back to her feet, "You just tell us what to do while you get the herbs we need. And make it as fast as you can."

Without waiting for any more orders, Ino dashed into the shop and started to look for what she needed. Although this was a flower shop, Ino's dream had always been to become a herb specialist, as she had once told Maki, so when she was sometimes attending the cash register, she would read on books about herbs and also try to mix some of the flowers she have in the shop and create a herb, following the book's instructions.

Maki and Naruto watched from the shop entrance as Ino started looking at all the flowers on by one, inspecting them and after a minute, she found one specific flower that was bright blue in colour. She took that flower and then went to the cash register and then opened a cabinet below. There, she took out a jar with some sort of leaf inside the jar. Ino carefully took out the leaf and with the blue flower and the leaf, she crushed them and from the crushed ingredients, placed the leaf into a bowl.

"There…" Ino said, handing the bowl to Maki.

"That's it?" Maki asked, his voice incredulous, "The list asked for three herbs!"

"Trust me, Maki-sensei. That herb in your hands right now is a mixture of all three." Ino explained with supreme confidence.

Maki eyed her, "You're very sure of this?"

"Positive."

Maki looked at his student with hesitation and finally taking her word for it, left the flower shop, leaving Ino behind. Naruto wondered what he really came here for since there was no use of him anyway. It was just wasting his energy but Naruto did not complain, seeing the serious expression on his teacher's face.

They finally reached the stadium and Maki immediately headed for the rooftop where Tsunade was healing the Hokage. Naruto followed without any questions and he saw Sakura helping some of the ANBU carrying wounded ninjas to the medic-nin's. Naruto searched for Sasuke but he could not find him anywhere. Naruto wondered where the Uchiha could have gone after receiving orders from his teacher that he was to remain here and not go anywhere.

Maki pushed his way from the circle of ninjas and approached Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama, here is the herb…"

The lead medic-nin was enraged though, "What is this? This was not the herb that we requested! We gave you three so…"

"Silence…" Tsunade snarled, making the lead medic-nin shut up. Tsunade took the herb from Maki and inspected it. Tsunade looked at the herb carefully and then at Maki. Maki's face paled when Tsunade looked at him with cold eyes but then Tsunade put her attention on her dying teacher. Tsunade placed the herb on the third's wound and then formed six complicated seals. Tsunade then started to heal the third, but instead of the usual green healing chakra, it was purple in colour.

Everyone watched in awe and curiosity, wondering what Tsunade was doing. Maki finally stepped back to allow Tsunade some space to do her job. Kakashi placed an assuring hand on Maki's shoulder. Maki smiled and saw Asuma at the back, nodding at him. Maki simply gave a tired smile.

After six minutes of this, Tsunade was exhausted but it was finally over. She stopped healing.

"Alright, the Hokage should be fine for now." Tsunade glanced at the head medic-nin, "Take the Hokage to the hospital and put him in intensive care. The poison is still in his body but it is not life threatening. A delicate operation will proceed to take out the poison."

The lead medic-nin nodded and ordered his subordinates to take the Hokage. They carefully put the Hokage on a stretcher and left the rooftop, quickly heading for their destination. The elite Jounin's and ANBU forces were relieved that their leader was saved from death.

"You," Tsunade said, looking at Maki, "What is your name?"

Maki gulped, "Haruno Maki…"

"Were you the one that came up with the herb?" Tsunade asked as she gathered her breath. It seems that healing the Hokage took a lot of her chakra.

"No," Maki answered, "It was from one of my students."

Tsunade was impressed, "When your student is free, I would like to see her."

With that, Tsunade left the rooftop, disappearing from sight. The elite Jounin's started to disperse and Maki went down to the stadium. Maki wondered what Tsunade could possibly want from Ino? As Maki looked around, he realised all of his students were gone.

"Now where the hell did they go?" Maki mumbled.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto and Sakura were now in a park in Konoha, sitting on a bench as they watched the villagers scurrying here and there, some busy rebuilding the damaged buildings or carrying supplies for the repairs or just some villagers that wanted to enjoy the park after such a tragic day. It was strange that everywhere in Konoha was damaged except for a few parks around Konoha, particularly this one.

Sakura was dragged off by Naruto before she even knew what was going on. Then before she knew it, Naruto and Sakura were now here in the park. Sakura looked at Naruto's face as he laughed happily, watching children playing a game of tag. Sakura smiled, enjoying watching Naruto's laughing face. Sakura wondered how it would be if they were married with kids? Will they sit here as parents watching their children play? After all, if they were parents, can they lead a normal family life when they are ninjas.

Then again, her father, as he uncle had told her, ran the family just fine. Sakura sighed, thinking how her father was. Despite hearing stories from her mother about how he was, and hearing great stories from her uncle when her uncle and father were on a mission, Sakura wanted to know her father by herself.

Naruto glanced back at Sakura and she was deep in thought. Naruto waved his hand in front of Sakura, "Earth to Sakura-Chan, are you there?"

Sakura shook her head, "Sorry Naruto-kun, I was just thinking of something?"

Naruto nodded in understanding and then relaxed, looking at the sky above him, "It's amazing how an exam can become a hell of a day."

Sakura giggled, "We're lucky we got away with our lives."

Naruto snickered, "Yeah, but we didn't really fight in Konoha. We just chased around some other Sand ninjas while the Jounins fought with a large force."

The two talked for a little while, some meaningless conversation as the time flew by. The villagers were all busy and some of them mourned for the death of their family members. Naruto wondered at that point how it would feel to have a family. Naruto has been alone in his entire life, never having the love of a father, mother or a sibling. Heck, Naruto doesn't even know who his parents were.

"You look troubled, Naruto-kun." Sakura observed.

Naruto just smiled, "It's nothing important."

The two Gennins watched the ninjas carrying the dead bodies of Konoha ninjas that fell during the invasion. Some of them had family, and as the ninjas carried the bodies, the family members cried their hearts out, some trying to stop the ninjas from carrying the bodies to the grave to at least look at the body of their loved ones one last time. However, the ninjas did not listen as they have to bury the dead before the smell starts to reek. It was harsh but it was the truth. It disease spreads around Konoha, Konoha would be in trouble.

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto said, breaking the silence, "You should be going home. It's getting late."

Sakura nodded, "Will you walk me home?"

"Of course…" Naruto and Sakura smiled and held hands as they walked home.

Throughout the journey, everyone was busy with tasks. Some were either repairing the damages while others were cleaning the mess. There were tons of kunai's, shurikens, blood and others that needs to be cleared. Also, there was no longer thick black smoke in the horizon. It looks like the flames on the south of Konoha had been put out.

"I wonder what's going to happen now." Sakura said as she looked up at the sky.

Naruto gave a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Sakura cleared her throat, "Will this be another war time for us? The Sand and Sound attacked Konoha which means that we are now in a war. So, what's going to happen."

Naruto was silence until he finally answered, "Don't worry so much. The council will announce the situation soon enough."

"You seem to be not afraid of war." Sakura noticed.

Naruto chuckled, "I guess, in a way, it might be a way for me to prove myself to the village that I am a defender of Konoha."

The two shared a small laugh and before they knew it, they had reach the Haruno's household. Sakura and Naruto looked at each other and were in an awkward situation. Naruto finally made his move as he started to walk away until he felt someone tugging his arm.

"Sakura-Chan?"

Before Naruto could react, Sakura lunged forward and kissed Naruto on the lips. Naruto was shocked and did not respond at first until he finally gave in. Naruto could feel Sakura's tongue licking his lips and he opened his mouth, allowing Sakura to taste Naruto. The two were locked in a lip battle when they had to finally part for air. The two looked into each other's eye, gasping for air.

"Wha… What was that for?" Naruto asked breathlessly.

"I guess I just wanted to let you know I'm glad you're still alive."

With that, Sakura opened the door and entered her house, leaving Naruto alone. Naruto was still in a dreamy state and finally, after a minute of standing there looking like an idiot, Naruto decide to make his way home. That was, until he saw Sasuke there.

"Sasuke?" Naruto was startled, "What are you doing here."

Sasuke just looked at Naruto without responding. Sasuke just walked to Naruto and then said, "You know you guys were kissing like mad in public?"

Naruto blushed, "Shut up!" Naruto said, flustered, "It was just the spur of the moment."

"Yeah, whatever," Sasuke responded, "I just received word from the council. It looks like all ninjas that are capable and not wounded are to help in the reconstruction of Konoha."

Naruto cocked his head to the right, "So?"

"It means that we have to help out."

"I thought all this are for the Chuunin and Jounin to do."

Sasuke sighed, "Idiot… All ninjas means all ninjas. Are you a Konoha ninja or not?"

"Of course I am!" Naruto retorted, popping a vein on his head.

"Then we have to help out." Sasuke said and was walking away but Naruto ran up next to him.

"How come you received word of it first?" Naruto questioned.

"Since I am considered the head of the Uchiha clan, I have to be told of this." Sasuke answered but Naruto could see that Sasuke was not proud to say that he was the leader of his clan since he was the only remaining Uchiha left in Konoha.

"It sucks huh? To be alone?" Naruto said silently.

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, "Yeah…"

"I have always wondered what it would be like to have family…" Naruto said.

Sasuke looked up at the sky, "It depends on what sort of family you have. My father never showed much appreciation for me. I got high marks in the academy, I was the top in the class but he put all his attention on my brother."

Sasuke sighed sadly, "But, I knew deep down that he loved me and my brother equally. He just doesn't know how to show it."

"Are you still going after your brother?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence.

Sasuke showed no reaction but he was shocked, "How did you know?"

"Maki-sensei told me about your ambitions." Naruto simply answered.

Sasuke clenched his fists in anger, "I admit, I will go after my brother. But… that will be my second objective. For now, I just want to serve Konoha loyally and if I meet Itachi one day, I will avenge my clan."

The two continued walking until they finally reached the abandoned Uchiha district. Sasuke looked at the empty streets and then turned to Naruto.

"I have never told anyone about this, and it feels good now that I did…" Sasuke admitted, "I guess, in a way, you helped me open my eyes Naruto."

With that, Sasuke entered the district while Naruto watched from the entrance. As Naruto watched Sasuke's back, Naruto smiled and at the same time, Sasuke smiled, and the two did not know that they were smiling. This was the start of something.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was night time now and Konoha was peaceful once more. The villagers and ninja now deserved some well-earned rest after trying to repair the damages all day. The day for the funeral of the dead ninjas will be held tomorrow and everyone was encouraged to attend.

High above Konoha, at the Hokage's monument, a lone ninja sat on the third Hokage's head, smoking a pipe. Jiraiya was waiting for their arrival as he has something to discuss with them before he has to leave Konoha tomorrow again. Jiraiya watched from above, his homeland. It felt good to return and defend his village. That was until his two most trusted companions arrived.

"Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi and Maki said at the same time.

Jiraiya got up to his feet and looked at them, "I'm glad you guys were able to hold the line until I arrived."

Kakashi bowed his head a little, "We didn't do it by ourselves."

Jiraiya nodded, "I know, but you two were the one's that slowed the enemies advance. If it were not for you, the enemy would have gained vital positions around Konoha when I and Tsunade arrived."

Maki chuckled, "Anyway, let's just get straight to the point. Why do you need to see us before you leave?"

Jiraiya turned to look at Maki, smiling, "You knew I was going to leave?"

"That's how you are after the death of the fourth." Maki stated.

Jiraiya nodded, now looking serious, "It's about the Akatsuki…"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "What have you found out?"

"It seems that they are now on the move. The Akatsuki are working in pairs, each team having two members. For now, I do not know of their current plans but I have confirmed two things."

"What are they?" Maki asked.

"They are indeed going after the tailed beasts. For now, they are just moving around the countries, finding spots for meetings and information of the hosts."

"And what's the other thing that you have confirmed?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya sighed, "I have confirmed three of the members. Uchiha Itachi is working with Hoshigaki Kisame. And, the third is Sasori of the red sand. I'm not sure who his partner is, but Sasori is not a person to be messed with."

"I have heard of his name," Maki said, "He left the Sand village about eighteen years ago."

Jiraiya nodded, "I'm leaving now. I want the two of you to be in alert. We never if they even dare come to Konoha to gather information on Naruto."

With that, Jiraiya left the two Jounins. Kakashi and Maki soon left a few seconds later, not even leaving a single trace that was there. It was as if they were all ANBU black opts in a secret meeting. Maki headed for home, carrying his exhausted body. Maki had been fighting numerous amount of ninjas since in the afternoon and then he had to help carrying the wounded ninjas. Now, he just attemded a secret meeting. It was maybe around eight at night now, and Maki couldn't wait until he get home and lie in his bed.

As Maki entered his brother's house, Maki was delighted to see his niece sitting in the living room. All thoughts of scolding Sakura for disappearing from the stadium vaninshed out of his thoughts. Maki waved tiredly at her and then looked at the woman standing behind her. Maki was glad she was safe. Maki was so busy defending Konoha he never found Suyuki around Konoha. Maki was glad she was safe but she had a bandage on her head.

"Suyuki-chan," Maki greeted tiredly, "I'm glad you're safe."

Suyuki smiled, "It's good to see that you escaped the day with your life."

Maki walked to her slowly, "What happened to your head?"

Suyuki touched her bandage, "It's just a minor injury from earlier on. It's not important."

When Maki reached her, Maki grabbed Suyuki and hugged her tightly. Suyuki was surprised and so was Sakura, not knowing what to do in this kind of situation. Maki actually cried as he hugged her, a sight in which Suyuki nor Sakur had seen. This was a side Maki had never shown.

"I'm glad you two are safe," Maki cried out, "I have sworn to protect Hanaki's family and I have no intentions to break that promise."

Suyuki smiled and before she knew it, Maki fell asleep. Both Suyuki and Sakura carried Maki to his room, never realising that he was so heavy. They opened the door to his room and dropped him on his bed. Suyuki pulled the blanket up to Maki's chest and then let the tired Jounin rest peacefully.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere in Konoha, Tsunade was busy gambling and getting drunk. Hell, it was a surprise that Tsunade was able to find a place to gamble after today. Tsunade was losing so much money that the person she was playing with today was going to be a wealthy man.

"Tsunade-sama!" A woman scolded, "You should stop before you…"

"Shut up!" Tsunade growled, "I would listen to you but this is punishment for arriving back to Konoha so slow, Shizune!"

Shizune, "But… That's not fair. You're a Sannin and I…"

"Give me another round!" Tsunade yelled, waving her empty glass.

"Tsunade-sama!!"


	37. Reconstruction of Konoha

**Alright guys, here is the new update. Sorry, but this chapter is kinda short so I apologise in advance. Please don't take this out on me. But I hope you guys will enjoy the story and please review. So many of you prefer to just favourite this story. **

**Next chapter, "Introduction to the new team seven."**

CHAPTER 37: RECONSTRUCTION OF KONOHA

The village of Konoha was peaceful as everyone slept in their beds. It was still early in the morning but in a few minutes, the first sign of the sun rising would be seen. At this time, if a person looked at Konoha, it was a peaceful village but once they have the light to help their vision, they would think Konoha was still in the third ninja war due to the damages of the buildings.

In an apartment, the sound of an alarm clock ringing was heard and the occupant, Naruto, shut the alarm off. Naruto slowly rise up from his bed, rubbing his eyes. Naruto was still dead tired from the events from yesterday but Naruto was told that he had to wake up early. Since it was a normal day, he had to meet up with his team at the hot springs like any usual day. Now that Naruto thought about it, it has actually been a long time since he met up with his team since he was occupied for one whole month for the Chuunin exams.

Naruto dragged himself slowly to the bathroom to freshen up. Naruto opened the tap water and washed his face and Naruto immediately felt wide awake. Naruto proceeded to brush his teeth and once he was done, Naruto stripped off his clothes and entered the shower. Naruto spent only about four minutes and he was done. That was the advantage of having no parents to tell to clean himself properly.

Naruto wiped himself dry and walked back to his room. Since today was going to be day where he was going to sweat himself, Naruto decided to wear a white tank top and a brown pants that went right after the knee. Then, Naruto tied his Konoha headband onto his forehead and entered the kitchen to start on his breakfast. Naruto's apartment building was not damaged during the invasion and Naruto considered himself lucky.

Naruto fixed himself a bowl of Ramen for breakfast, which was his usual meal for most of his life. The day for the third part of the Chuunin exam, Naruto ate a cooked egg and although it was a pleasant change, Naruto did not enjoy it as much as he would enjoy his Ramen. Naruto finished his Ramen in a matter of minutes and when Naruto looked at the time, it was just seven in the morning. His team would normally meet around half past seven in the morning but Naruto decided that no harm could be done in going a little and so Naruto made his choice.

Naruto locked his apartment door from the inside then walked to his window, opened it, climbed out his window and closed it, and then made his way to the hot springs. Even though it was considered early for Naruto, most of the villagers were already wide awake. Despite being a day to repair the damages of the invasion, the villagers were also busy in the market selling their goods. After all, if everyone was involved in repairing the damages, who was going to sell food and other goods to the villagers.

It took Naruto about seven minutes to reach the hot springs and Naruto was surprised that he was not the only one there. He found his black haired team mate, Sasuke waiting there. Sasuke must have sensed his presence because when Naruto approached Sasuke, Sasuke was clearly waiting for him.

"When did you get here?" Naruto asked when he reached Sasuke.

"Fifteen minutes ago." The Uchiha answered plainly.

"Are you actually enthusiastic to do repairs?"

Sasuke sent a death glare at Naruto, "Is it wrong to get here early?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "No, but why would you want to come so early anyway?"

"It is a ninja's duty to be punctual." Sasuke stated and then looked away as something got his attention.

"I think you're just paying too much attention to the ninja code. I mean, come on, since…" Naruto stopped speaking since he realised Sasuke was pre-occupied with something. Naruto followed Sasuke's eye direction and Naruto realised that Sasuke was looking at a couple of women entering the hot springs, and the women were beyond beautiful.

"What the hell are you looking at, bastard?" Naruto said in a loud voice, startling the young Uchiha.

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, and Naruto saw a hint of nosebleed. Sasuke was about to come up with a reply but Naruto burst out laughing, pointing at Sasuke's nose. Sasuke clenched his fists in anger.

"You better stop or I will tell Maki what you did with Sakura yesterday?" Sasuke cautioned.

Naruto wiped a tear off his face, "What are you talking about?"

Sasuke smirked, "Well, the fact that you made out with Sakura in front of her house…"

Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of that and turned beet red. Sasuke smirked, knowing he won a small victory. Sasuke knew this could be used as some sort of blackmail if Sasuke wanted to get something from Naruto but Sasuke was not that cruel.

At that moment, Maki finally appeared, landing right in front of the two boys. The two boys were not that surprised by Maki's sudden appearance since he was always doing that and they sort of got used to it. What really surprised them was that Maki was wearing a simple white shirt and some faded jeans. They had always seen their pink haired teacher wearing the normal Jounin attire and this was a first for them.

Maki noticed that Sasuke and Naruto were looking at him, "What?" Maki asked.

Naruto shook his head, "Nothing…"

Sasuke smiled weakly, "It has been a long time since we actually met up here as a team…"

Maki was surprised that Sasuke said that. The way he said that was as if Sasuke loved his team. Or could it be that Sasuke already has formed some sort of bond with this team? That could be good news.

"So, Maki-sensei, what is our duty for the day?" Naruto started once again.

Maki scratched his hair, "Our team has been assigned to help repair the damages to the eastern area of Konoha, which is near the Yamanaka clan and Ino's flower shop."

"And just where is Ino? She's late!" Naruto complained.

Maki cleared his throat, "Ino will not be in our team today…"

"What?" Both Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time, "Why?"

"How do I explain this…?" Maki looked at his two students, "Well, let's just say that she has to meet someone this morning so she will not be with us today."

"Meeting who?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Now that information is classified…"

"What?" Naruto was now more than curious, "How come?"

"Let's just get going," Maki ordered, jumping up on a rooftop, "We have got a long way to go."

That was the end of the discussion as team seven started to make their way to the eastern side of Konoha. Today was a good weather, with the sun being blocked by the clouds. With such difficult tasks for today, Konoha was lucky that the sun was not burning down on them. That would really be uncomfortable.

Maki thought about what he had told Ino yesterday, about Tsunade wanting to meet Ino.

Flashback

Ino was in a daze as she finally heard what was going on. Konoha was attacked by both Sound and Sand ninjas while she was asleep in the genjutsu and the reason why her teacher required the herbs was to save the Hokage's life. Ino shook her head, trying to erase those stressful thoughts. Ino wondered how she was actually able to miss everything today.

Ino walked out of her flower shop and locked the doors. Ino wanted to get all the details from her parents. As Ino started to make her way home, a figure emerged in front of her, blocking her way. Ino looked up at the figure, and she realised it was Maki, her teacher.

"Maki-sensei," Ino greeted tiredly, "You're sort of in my way…"

"That's because I need to talk to you about something, Ino."

Ino sighed, "Can that wait until tomorrow? My mind is in a mess right now and…"

"It's about the herbs that you gave me just now."

Now Ino was getting doubtful. Could it be that the herb she gave did not work? No, she was sure that the new herb she mixed was the perfect one.

"The herb can't be wrong. I'm sure of it, Maki-sensei. I…"

"Calm down, Ino," Maki said, placing both of his arms on her shoulder to calm her down, "The herb worked perfectly Ino. The reason I'm here is because someone would like to see you regarding the herbs."

"See me?" Ino repeated, "What about?"

Maki shrugged, "I don't know. I think she should be in the Hokage's tower tomorrow. She didn't tell me where to tell you to meet her, but that's my guess."

"So, what's her name?"

"Tsunade. Trust me, you mention that name in the Hokage's tower, they should know if they have seen her."

Ino has heard that name before but she just couldn't remember. If Ino was not mistaken, that name was mentioned a few times in the academy but for the life of her, Ino couldn't remember. Ino decided to stop punishing her head. It was in hell as it was.

With that, Maki started to walk away, leaving the young Yamanaka alone in the street. As Maki was getting further and further away, Maki stopped, with his back still facing Ino.

"And Ino, if all goes well, I think your dream of becoming a herb specialist just might come true." Maki stated.

After that, Maki started to walk away. Ino heard those words correctly but her brain was a little too slow to understand what Maki had said. After hearing about her homeland being attacked, Ino's reactions were a little slow today. Finally, when she finally got her senses back, Ino was shocked.

End of flashback

Maki looked at his two students following behind him. Maki didn't want to tell them that if Ino decided to pursue her dreams, she will no longer be a part of team seven. Although team seven could still function, the council might not agree to it for two reasons. One was that Naruto was the container of the nine-tails and it could be dangerous since the team was no longer a full team. The second reason was that Sasuke was the last remaining Uchiha member in Konoha and the council might not want to risk putting Sasuke in a team with just three ninjas in the team.

Maki sighed. The council can really be a bother and it was no wonder that Jiraiya had never liked them. As a matter of fact, most of the elite Jounins did not like the way the council thinks. The ANBU probably think the same but being personal warriors of the Hokage and the council, they have no say in this.

"Man, this is going to be so boring…" Naruto whined when they finally reached their destination.

"Stop whining, idiot," Sasuke scolded, "You're really getting on my nerves."

And with that, the two boys were locked in another quarrel. Maki sighed, rubbing his forehead. The one thing he really hated about his team is that the two boys, no matter how much he tried, will always get themselves into an argument at least ONCE. Maki stepped in between them, separating the two by shoving the Uchiha to the right and the blonde to the left.

"Break it up you two," Maki said, "We need to concentrate here."

Naruto grumbled while Sasuke acted like nothing ever happened. Maki sighed. Maki received orders from one of the ANBU leader and ordered his students on their assigned duties. Maki was ordered to help repair damages on some large building that was used for some sort of clothing business while Sasuke and Naruto were assigned to carry supplies such as lumber into the building. Naruto complained throughout the whole assignment.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the Hokage's tower, it was busy as just as the village was busy. Ninjas were coming in to hand in reports and going out to send out orders. The administration staff have never been so busy. The villagers that were in the tower were not helping, complaining to get their area fixed and repaired as soon as possible.

"Please calm down," A female staff said to a large male, "We will get your house fixed if we can spare some ninjas but they're all busy now and…"

"Calm down?!?" The large man yelled, saliva spitting out of his mouth, "How can I calm down? My house has holes all over and I want it repaired now! It's not…"

Gai tapped the man on the shoulder and the large man spun around to look at Gai. Gai smiled, his teeth sparkling white, "Please, show me where your house is. With so much youth within me, I can get it done within a few minutes!"

Gai gave a thumbs up and everyone in the administration office were silent, watching this elite Jounin. The large man's jaw was open, thinking that Gai maybe a little weird wearing tights. But that was all the man wanted. He left the office with Gai following, smiling brightly.

Ino was just standing outside the doorway of the office and sweat-dropped at the sight. Ino remembered Gai because her father had returned with him from his missions on several occasions. Ino shook her head. She needed to do what she came her and look for this Tsunade person that Maki had told her about.

It was quite hard to get to the administration's desk with so many people shoving her out of the way and the place was quite packed. Ino was getting frustrated but just being a twelve year old Gennin, there wasn't much she could do.

Finally, Ino reached the counter, "Excuse me, do you know where is Tsunade?"

At the mention of the name, the staff Ino was talking to immediately paid attention on Ino, "Tsunade-sama?!"

Ino nodded, "Yeah…"

The man, around his mid-thirties thought for a moment, "Can't say that I did, but her assistant…" The man turned to look at someone, "Hei, Shizune!"

"What?" A woman's voice replied.

"There is someone here looking for your teacher!"

A few seconds later, a woman around her twenties appeared at the desk. She was wearing a black kimono and has medium length black hair and she holding some files to her chest. Shizune looked at the man and the simply pointed at Ino.

"You're looking for Tsunade-sama?" Shizune questioned, her voice in disbelief.

"Yeah…"

Shizune sighed, "Look, Tsunade-sama is pretty busy right now and…"

"But I was told by my teacher that Tsunade wanted to look for me regarding the herbs." Ino protested.

At the mention of herbs, Shizune immediately realised her mistake, "Oh, so you are the person that created the herb for the Hokage?"

Ino nodded. Shizune now understood and Tsunade did inform Shizune that if the person that created the herb was looking for, Shizune was to bring the person to her. Shizune looked at the blonde girl in front of her again. For Tsunade to personally call for her, Tsunade must have been impressed with the child's abilities, but this was different. Tsunade was normally interested if the person has good chakra control but this was because the child was good in making herbs.

"Alright then," Shizune said, standing next to Ino, "Just follow me and I'll bring you to her."

The two females left the administration office and started to climb the stairs of the Hokage tower. They had to climb the stairs for a few minutes and this was starting to tire Ino out but Shizune seemed to be perfectly fine. Ino assumed that Shizune must have been used to this since she was working in the Hokage's tower. How wrong Ino was.

They finally stopped climbing the fleet of stairs and entered a corridor. The corridor had doors to the left and right. Ino heard that this place were rooms assigned to the personal guards of the Hokage, the elite ANBU forces. Ino felt honoured that she got to enter such a high ranking area. Finally, Shizune stopped and knocked on the door to her right. After a few seconds, Shizune knocked once more.

"Come in!" A voice yelled from the other side.

Shizune turned the door knob and opened the door. Shizune stepped aside and ushered Ino into the room. There, Ino finally got the first glimpse of the legendary medic-nin, Tsunade. Tsunade was sitting down on a stool, looking at herself in the mirror, obviously bored.

"What do you want now, Shizune?" Tsunade asked without looking at Shizune.

"Tsunade-sama, the person that created the herb that helped you to heal the Hokage is here." Shizune informed Tsunade. Tsunade immediately turned and looked at Ino.

"Ah, thank you, Shizune. You can leave now."

Shizune bowed and then closed the door. Shizune sighed tiredly. Tsunade was most likely still mad at her for interrupting in her gambling yesterday but Shizune was just doing what was best for her. They have had so many problems in the past for Tsunade's excessive gambling.

"So," Tsunade started, "You're the person that created that unique herb?"

Ino nodded, "Yes…"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "Do you know how difficult it was to create that specific herb? It takes hours and even the slightest mistake could destroy it…"

Ino nodded once more, "Yes, I'm well aware of that but I have so much free time in the flower shop that I always practice and I'm now pretty good at that."

"You're a Gennin, girl?"

"Yes…"

"What's your name?"

"Yamanaka Ino…"

"Yamanaka eh?" Tsunade was now impressed, "What's a girl like you from a ninja clan doing with herbs?"

Ino gulped, "I never had much interests in becoming a ninja. I have always wanted to be a herb specialist but since my father is the head of the clan and I have to succeed him, I was forced to be a ninja."

"The head?" Tsunade thought about it, and if her if her estimations were right, Ino was the daughter of Inoichi, "So, your father is Yamanaka Inoichi?"

Ino nodded, "That's right…"

"Let me ask you a question, Ino…" Tsunade said, using the name Ino for the first time, "If you could become a herb specialist and drop your career as a ninja, would you do it?"

Ino hesitated for a moment but finally nodded slowly, "Yes…"

Tsunade smiled, "Let's go and meet with your father…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the highest floor of the Hokage's tower, in a meeting room, the council was having a meeting. Two ANBU black opts were guarding the door and this shows that the meeting was not to be interrupted no matter the circumstance.

Inside the meeting room, only one important seat was not taken and that was the Hokage's seat and that was to be since the Hokage was still recovering but at least alive. The fire lord was present, the advisors of the Hokage and four high ranking council members and both the head of the Nara and Akimichi clan were present.

"It is obvious that we have to strike soon once the repairs have been done!" The second council member stated, slamming his fist on the table, "We are now at war with the Sand and Sound. The Sand itself is powerful alone and now, with the help of the Sound, our chances of winning are low. We have to strike now while they are recovering."

"We are also just recovering," Akimichi Chouza argued, "The only ninjas available for such high risks missions are the elite Jounins and ANBU black opts."

"Then send them for the mission!" The same council member retorted.

"We cannot do that!" Nara Shikaku replied angrily, "The mission is too risky and if they die on the mission, although the chances are quiet low, what will happen to Konoha? They are now the main defenders of Konoha and it was thanks to their magnificent work that Konoha still stands today."

"Then what about if we send clan ninjas?" The fourth council member suggested, much more calmly then the second.

The female advisor of the Hokage shook her head, "That would be unwise. We all know that Konoha has suffered ever since the destruction of the Uchiha clan. One of Konoha's most prestigious and powerful clan was completely wiped out and our military force has suffered. We do not want to carelessly send clan ninjas on dangerous missions with no chances of making it out alive. That will be just a repeat of the Uchiha massacre."

"So what do you propose we do?" The fire lord asked.

The male Hokage's advisor cleared his throat, "It's best we try and solve the problem with the Sand village in a diplomatic way. That would be best. We do not want to lose the lives of countless ninjas."

"Alright, so that's out of the way…" The fire lord said happily.

"So what's the next issue?" The third council member asked.

"Who will be the next Hokage?" The female advisor said.

"Any of you would like to nominate on a particular person?" The fire lord questioned.

"It is obvious that we choose Tsunade. She is one of the legendary Sannin and was a student to the third Hokage, not to mention the grandchild of the first Hokage. I nominate for her. Jiraiya could be a better choice but he travels here and there, so being Hokage is out of the question for Jiraiya." Both advisors suggested.

The third council member nodded, "But the Sannin's are getting old. Tsunade will only be able to maintain that position for the maximum of ten years. Is there any young one's that could take her place?"

"There are two." Shikaku said.

"And who are they?" The fire lord asked, now curious.

"Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Maki…" Shikaku answered.

"Kakashi?" The fire lord was interested, "The son of the white fang. He is powerful and young, and well known through out the land."

"And sorry to say, who is Haruno Maki?" The first council member asked.

"He is an elite Jounin, said to be an equal to Kakashi." Chouza answered, "He was the student of Namoto Shuya and Maki is also quite well known throughout the lands and is at the same age as Kakashi."

"Namoto Shuya?" The fire lord repeated, "Was he not close to the fourth Hokage?"

The male advisor nodded, "Best friends was what I've heard. It is also said that Shuya was at the same level of the white fang."

"What happened to him?" The fire lord asked, looking at the male advisor.

"Shuya was a person that wanted to be Hokage but the people of Konoha were in favor of Minato. Like Orochimaru, Shuya left the village and is a missing-nin. Shuya could be still alive, but we're not sure."

"Alright then," The fire lord said, "I think we have future candidates for the position of the sixth Hokage. What else is there to discuss?"

The fourth council member passed a white sheet of paper to the fire lord, "This is the list of ninjas that made the position of Chuunin rank. Is there any of them that you would disagree in promoting the promotion?"

The fire lord read the sheet paper and read the names. He remembered the match of each of the ninjas and the names listed here did indeed have the things required needed to become a Chuunin. The fire lord looked at everyone present in the meeting, smiling.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere in Konoha, everyone was at the cemetery, watching the dead ninjas being buried. Some of the ninjas were high rank and well known, so some made speeches on how they respected a particular ninja. This was going to be a long day but Naruto knew he had to stay here since he was a fellow ninja.

Maki was not with his team. Maki was looking at a freshly buried grave and he could not believe that he died. He was quite powerful from what Maki remembered and the best in the team. For him to fall in the invasion will be a huge loss in the Chuunin ranks. Izumo was next to Maki, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I can't believe he's gone…"Izumo said sadly.

Maki nodded slowly, "Damn it… Kiryuu… How can this be possible? He had the potential to be an elite Jounin in the future and now…" Maki could continue no more.

"I'll miss him…" Izumo admitted.

Maki patted his former student's shoulder, "This is how life is for us ninjas."

Izumo nodded. Maki looked at the grave of his former student, Kiryuu. Maki gave a small prayer and then walked away, leaving Izumo to mourn for his friend's death. Maki walked to where Naruto and Sasuke were and Maki gave a weak smile.

Sakura was not with her team though. Sakura was also looking down at a grave and Maki found Sakura. Maki recognised this grave. It was his brother, Sakura's father. Sakura stared blankly at the grave, not knowing what sort of emotion to have for a father she never knew.

This was a time for the dead ninjas to be remembered. Sasuke and Naruto walked towards Maki.

"I think it's over, Maki-sensei…" Naruto said.

"Is there anything we have to do for today?" Sasuke asked, hoping that they were done for the day.

Maki shook his head, "No, we're done. You guys can go back now."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, it is decided then?" The second member asked for confirmation.

The fire lord nodded, "Is there a problem?"

"Not really. But the problem is this," The fourth council member argued, "Tsunade has given us this form that this ninja, Yamanaka Ino, will no longer be a ninja and so, team seven has an empty slot."

"And you said that team eight now has a Chuunin with them?" The female advisor asked.

All council nodded. The male advisor narrowed his eyes, "So, if team eight now has a Jounin, a Chuunin and two Gennin, it will be imbalanced since the team is too powerful."

"So what do you suggest?" Shikaku asked.

"What about we move this ninja to team seven?"

Everyone agreed and it was settled. Team eight will now be comprised of a Jounin, Chuunin and Gennin, a three-man team while team seven will be comprised of a Jounin and the usual three-man team of Gennins. This was the best they could do. Shikaku read the list of team seven.

New Team seven

Jounin leader: Haruno Maki

Underlings: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura


	38. Introduction to the new team seven

**Alright guys, really really sorry for the late update. My big bro just returned from the UK on 3****rd**** July and I was really busy. We have been going out non-stop and I had college, so it was really busy and shit, haha.**

**Anyways, here is the new chapter. Next chapter, "Tsunade, the 5****th**** Hokage!"**

CHAPTER 38: INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TEAM SEVEN

A week have already passed and with the invasion of Konoha now finally over, peace was once again restored in the great village. However, the inhabitants of the village have no time to rest as they have to continue with the reconstruction of Konoha. The first three days, the ninjas helped by carrying lumber, helped repair damages around the village and constructing the great gates of Konoha but now, the ninjas were all busy now with missions.

After all, the village gets it's income primarily from the missions that they receive from other smaller countries for help. There are so many missions that some of the lesser missions were rejected by the administrators. Now, most of the Jounin will be busy being assigned with missions and even the ANBU black opt will be receiving high rank missions with high pay. Konoha will need all that high amount of money to restore back to it's former glory.

In the Haruno household, Maki was awakened by a knock on his door. Maki groaned as he raised himself off the bed, scratching his long pink hair on the way to the door. Maki looked outside the window and he knew that it should be approximately around seven in the morning. Maki opened the door and it was Suyuki.

"What is it?" Maki asked, covering his mouth as he yawned.

"You should get up," Suyuki said, "It's already seven twenty in the morning, most unlike you. Don't you have to report to the Hokage or something?"

Maki smacked his lips, "I've been busy last night, alright? I had to repair so many stuff and I'm tired… Can't I just sleep in for the day?"

Suyuki glared angrily at Maki, "Even Sakura is already prepared for the day. She has to meet up with her team at the Hokage tower in a few minutes and you should meet up with your own team too!"

Now that caught Maki's attention. Maki rubbed his face, trying to erase the sleepiness, "She is? Sakura shouldn't have any missions. Most of the missions assigned are reserved to ANBU forces."

Suyuki shrugged and started to walk away, "Well, then go ask her. She's eating breakfast right now and will be leaving to meet up with her team soon."

Maki slammed his door shut and quickly started running around his room in search of his clothes. It is true that he has to meet up with his team in precisely ten minutes but Maki wanted to let them wait and he'll get there fifteen minutes later. It looks like it was going to be a change of plans.

Maki found his Jounin vest but could not find his regular black shirt. So instead, Maki just took a simple white tank top and wore the Jounin vest on it, thus making Maki look like he was not wearing anything but his vest. Maki packed three custom kunai's into his back pouch and then left his room to have a quick breakfast.

When Maki reached the dining room, Sakura was just about finished eating her breakfast. Sakura looked up and simply nodded to greet her uncle since her mouth was full. Maki took a bowl, poured cereal and milk and started to eat his breakfast at record speed. It could be said that Maki ate at the speed Naruto would eat his ramen when he was hungry. When Sakura was finished, Maki finished at the same time.

"You sure can eat fast, uncle Maki." Sakura commented.

Maki grinned, "What's this I hear about you going to meet up with your team?"

Sakura nodded as she reached the door, "I'm not so sure myself. Asuma-sensei just told me yesterday that the Hokage wanted to meet up with our team."

"On a mission?"

Sakura shook her head, "I don't think so. Asuma-sensei said it was nothing about a mission, something more of an announcement."

Maki stepped into his sandals and opened the door with Sakura following him out. Maki rubbed Sakura's head, "Well, you can tell me what happened later."

Sakura nodded and started making her way towards the Hokage tower while Maki started to walk to the hot springs where his team should be there. Or at least what was left of his team. Maki heard from Ino that she might stop being a ninja and become a herb specialist. Of course Maki supported her decision but what will become of team seven with only two boys? It will not be a team with just a Jounin and two Gennin. This could lead team seven to disbandment.

As Maki jumped from rooftop to rooftop, Maki saw that down below in the streets that the villagers were still busy with the repairs. Maki predicted that it will take another week or so before Konoha will be restored. Also, the walls of Konoha were badly damaged and the ninjas were in charge of repairing that. It would be so much more difficult to patrol around Konoha until the walls were repaired.

Maki finally reached his destination and he found his two students were already there but to say Maki was surprised would be an understatement. Maki had expected that by now, Sasuke and Naruto would be locked into another argument but here there they were, both peeking at the hot springs through a peep hole. Maki's jaw dropped at the sight, because the Uchiha was actually doing something that Jiraiya would have been proud of.

Naruto and Sasuke were so engrossed in what they were doing that they never sensed the Jounin's arrival. Naruto and Sasuke were blushing deep red and they were making no attempts to stop. Naruto was practically drooling and Sasuke was trembling a little. Maki popped a vein and stood right between the two, clearing his throat.

"What do you think you guys are doing?!" Maki yelled.

Both Sasuke and Naruto jumped and turned around immediately. The two Gennin's faces were flushed red and even if Maki had never caught them, it was pretty obvious that they had either thought or saw some indecent stuff. Maki looked at Naruto and then at Sasuke. Both were still blushing furiously.

"Maki-sensei, we can explain…" Naruto began.

Maki held up his hand, "No need. It's pretty obvious what you two were doing."

"Well, it's not like we're the only one's doing it," Sasuke said softly, "I mean, I heard other ninjas peep sometimes."

Maki blushed upon hearing that and unfortunately, it did not go unnoticed by his two students.

"You do too, Maki-sensei?" Sasuke questioned, smirking.

"That is not the point!" Maki said, still blushing but his words were ignored as Naruto and Sasuke burst out laughing. It was pretty hard to imagine their teacher, whom was extremely strict in these sort of matters was actually one of them. The only thing that Maki was not good at was discipline, which Naruto lacked as well.

Maki sighed, defeated, "Are you guys done laughing now?"

Naruto wiped a tear, "Ye-yeah, we are, Maki-sensei."

Sasuke was serious once again, a sudden change in attitude, "So, what are we supposed to do today, Maki-sensei?"

"And where the heck is Ino?!" Naruto asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"One at a time guys," Maki said, looking at Naruto, "To answer your question, Ino will not be attending today's meeting. As a matter of fact, she might stop being a part of team seven."

The news shocked the two boys, "What?!"

Maki nodded and continued, "She might be following her ambitions to become a herb specialist but even I'm not sure yet. We'll just have to wait for a few days maybe to have our answer."

"But," Sasuke interjected, "Wouldn't that disband team seven?"

Maki took a deep breath, "Yes, it is a possibility. If that were to happen, there are two possible scenarios. One, the two of you will be put into a different team, or maybe even wait for next year academy's batch. In the second scenario, we three will continue to go on missions as part of team seven but the chances of that are quite low."

"That sucks…" Naruto complained. Sasuke was silent but it was obvious that he did not like how things might end up.

"Look," Maki started, "Let's not worry about this for now. What say we head to the training grounds and…"

However, Maki was interrupted when a puff of smoke appeared right by Maki's side. Both Gennins were startled but did not react like a normal civilian would. Being a ninja, their senses and reactions were better. Maki was calm and looked at the ANBU kneeling next to him. The ANBU was wearing a boar's mask.

"Maki-san, you and your team are requested to go to the Hokage's tower right now."

Maki raised an eyebrow, "I was not told of this."

The ANBU ninja bowed his head, "They have just informed me to tell you this. They are waiting for your team at the Hokage's room."

"Any idea what it is regarding?"

The ANBU ninja shook his head, "I was only told to tell your team to head to the Hokage's tower."

Maki nodded and the ANBU ninja disappeared once more. It looks like something important is going down. Maki looked at his two students.

"You heard the man…"

"I'll race ya!" Naruto challenged Sasuke.

"You're on, idiot."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a busy day in the Hokage's tower. Well, almost everyday was a busy day in this building but today was much more busy than usual. Villagers were rushing in and out to report about damaged buildings or buildings that were repaired. The administration staff were all busy running here and there to writing down reports.

Shizune, the assistant of the 'Slug Sannin' was also there, trying to help sort out all the different documents. Ever since following her master, Shizune has never been so busy in her life. In a way, it was sort of a relief to finally get away from dealing with those loan sharks. Whenever the loan sharks found Tsunade, Tsunade would find an excuse and if not, Tsunade would use her temper to scare them.

Inside the Hokage's room, several ninjas were present. On the seat of the Hokage was the 'Slug Sannin' herself and there were two ANBU ninja's behind her as guards, although she didn't actually need them since she was capable of taking care of herself. In front of her was the newly appointed ninja that the feudal lords saw fit to appoint to Chuunin and behind him were his team mates.

"So I'm a Chuunin now?" Shikamaru asked without a slight hint of interest.

"Yeah, and you should be a little enthusiastic about it. You were the only Gennin that was selected to be promoted." Tsunade told Shikamaru but the young Nara was obviously not paying attention.

"Chuunin?" Shikamaru repeated, "That means more responsibility right? Man, this is going to be troublesome."

Tsunade popped a vein on her forehead and was clearly trying to hold her temper, "You little brat…"

Sakura was surprised that Shikamaru had actually been promoted to Chuunin level. It's not because Shikamaru was weak but Sakura thought that with the invasion and everything, she thought the results in the Chuunin exams did not really matter as they had more important duties to fulfil. It looks like Sakura was wrong.

Asuma, noticing Tsunade's killing intent rising quickly stepped forward, "Tsunade-sama, please calm down…"

Tsunade looked at the Jounin and immediately saw a resemblance, "You… You look familiar… Do I know you?"

Asuma, surprised by the change of topic, stuttered, "Huh? I.. Erm… I don't think so."

"What is your name?"

"Asuma Sarutobi."

"Sarutobi? Are you related to the third Hokage?" Tsunade asked.

Asuma scratched his head, laughing softly, "I'm his son."

The room was silent and the feeling was a bit awkward. After all, Asuma knew that Tsunade was the third's apprentice and for her to find out that he is the son of her master makes things a little more awkward.

"You're the son?" Tsunade asked in shock, "The last time I saw his son was when he was a baby. And here you are now, smoking!"

The students of team ten watched the whole conversation with interest. Shikamaru stepped back and was now standing between Chouji and Sakura. It looks like this might take a while, seeing that Tsunade was getting acquainted with Asuma. Chouji was not paying attention however, shoving potato chips into his mouth.

However, a knock on the door stopped Tsunade and Asuma from continuing with their conversation.

"Come in!" Tsunade barked.

The door opened and team seven entered the room. Naruto and Sasuke were still arguing. It seems that the two Gennin of team seven reached the Hokage tower at the same time. Maki sighed in total defeat and was surprised to find Tsunade sitting in the office, and she was looking back at his team with cold eyes.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, surprised to find Sakura here. That ended the argument between the blonde and the Uchiha.

"Naruto-kun." Sakura greeted back warmly, smiling at the blonde despite his rude entry. Shikamaru and Chouji stared at Naruto and Sasuke. Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his forehead from the headache. Shikamaru was already currently having a bad day being promoted to a Chuunin and now this mess.

"What are…" Naruto started.

Tsunade finally lost it and smashed her table, breaking the table into pieces. The two ANBU guards behind her showed no reaction, not even flinching. The two Jounin's present showed no surprise as they have already known about Tsunade's temper. The Gennins, were however, shocked.

"Can all you kindly shut the hell up?!" Tsunade yelled, still clenching her fist that smashed the table.

"Just who the hell are you?" Naruto asked rudely. Maki quickly covered Naruto's mouth to shut him up but it was too late.

Tsunade had several vein's popped on her forehead and in a blink of an eye, Tsunade had already grabbed Naruto by the collar and smashing him on the wall, leaving a crack. The pain never even registered into Naruto's brain as Naruto stared into Tsunade's eyes.

"Listen brat," Tsunade spat out, "I'm having a bad day right now, and you blabbering your fat mouth is not helping. So, unless you want to live, I suggest you shut the hell up."

Despite that, Naruto showed no fear and was about to speak up.

"Naruto," Maki said sternly, "You had better show respect this time! If Tsunade-sama attacks you, not even I will be able to stop her so please, just keep your mouth shut for once!"

Naruto had never seen Maki this angry before. Naruto looked back at Tsunade and she finally released Naruto. Naruto dropped on his butt, touching his collar. Naruto never even saw Tsunade move and he knew that this blonde woman must be really powerful. Sasuke pulled Naruto back up to his feet and all stood to attention.

"Now," Tsunade started once again, sitting on her chair, "I called all of you here because I have an announcement to make that concerns both team seven and team eight."

Sasuke raised his hand up, "Where's the Hokage?"

Tsunade glared at Sasuke and answered, "The Hokage is still wounded from the battle. I will be temporarily be the Hokage until the old man recovers."

"So, what'd you call us for?" Chouji asked with his mouth full.

"As you know, Shikamaru here has been promoted to Chuunin and…"

"What?!" Naruto burst out, "He's a Chuunin?"

Tsunade sighed, trying her best to hold her temper, "Yes, you brat now shut up!" Tsunade started again, "Because of Shikamaru's promotion, team ten will be imbalanced due to having a Jounin, Chuunin and two Gennin so the council have decided that one of the Gennin from team ten will be moved to team seven."

"Moved to team seven?" Sasuke inquired, "Our team is already full."

"You're wrong on that," Tsunade corrected, "Your other team mate, Yamanaka Ino, has quit team seven and is undergoing her training to become a trained herb specialist for Konoha."

"What?!" Naruto and Sasuke were shocked by the news. That explained why Ino had not been showing up for team meetings.

"Didn't your teacher tell you about this?" Tsunade questioned, and then looked at Maki.

Both Naruto and Sasuke turned to Maki, their eyes demanding an explanation. Maki sighed, "Well, I guess I didn't want to be the person to break the news to you guys but before you guys start yelling at me, this was Ino's choice. She wanted to follow her dreams and I didn't think we will be helping her if you guys pressured her to remain in the team."

Naruto could not contain his anger and was about to strike his own teacher but Sasuke stopped him, placing his right arm in front of Naruto to stop him. Naruto looked at Sasuke and the looks they shared told that what Maki said was true. Naruto looked down and bowed low, apologising.

"So," Asuma stepped in, "Who's moving to team seven?"

The ANBU ninja on Tsunade's right handed Tsunade a piece of paper. Tsunade took it and cleared her throat, "Haruno Sakura, you will be transferring from team eight to team seven."

The words took a few seconds for everyone to register into their heads and Naruto was the first one to move an inch. Naruto looked at Sakura and smiled, which turned into a wide grin. Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts, smiling. As for team ten, they just watched on. Finally, Shikamaru walked to Sakura, placing his hand on Sakura's left shoulder.

"It's been great having you as a team mate. Keep in touch." Shikamaru said and then stood next to Asuma.

Chouji also stepped forward, "I normally don't share, but here," Chouji took out a packet of potato chip and handed it to Sakura, "You're the second person that I share my food."

Sakura accepted it, hesitantly, "Right… Thanks, Chouji."

Chouji grinned and then stood next to his team. Sakura looked at her uncle and the two family members were smiling at one another. Maki's dream to have Sakura under him had finally come true. Sakura looked at the Sannin, wondering if what she heard was true. Tsunade simply shrugged but she did give a small smile.

"Team ten and seven, you're dismissed." Tsunade said, sighing.

Team ten walked out first, which was then followed by team seven. Tsunade looked down at her feet at the broken pieces of the table. Tsunade then remembered she had hidden a bottle of Sake earlier and quickly rummaged through the broken table. When she finally found it, the bottle was broken and the Sake was leaking on the floor.

Team seven could hear Tsunade's scream of anguish from where they were, which was precisely one floor below the Hokage's room. Naruto and Sakura were oblivious however, as the two chatted happily with the other. Naruto had never felt so happy in his life since he will now be in the same missions with Sakura.

"It's good to have you on our team, Sakura." Sasuke said as he walked on Sakura's left.

"Thanks," Sakura replied, "Let's all work hard together."

Naruto gave a thumb's up, "Believe it!"

Maki smirked, walking behind them now, "What say all of us head to training ground number seven to test out our team's abilities?"

All three Gennin of team seven turned back to look at their teacher. They had heard what he said and were considering it. Naruto looked at Sakura, and then at Sasuke. The two of them had the same look and Naruto smiled.

"Alright, let's go for it!"

Maki crossed his arms on his chest, "Alright then, you guys have got three minutes to get there or else…"

With that, Maki disappeared in a puff of smoke. All three Gennin were surprised, never noticing that it was actually a shadow clone. They concluded that Maki must have created a clone when he exited the Hokage's room since he was the first to walk out.

"Damn him!" Sasuke cursed as they started running down the hallway.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tsunade was walking through the silent corridors as she continued looking for the room that she was supposed to go to. After all, she have to check up on him every several hours to make sure that he still breathing. When finally Tsunade finally found his room, she entered and was not surprised to find a visitor there.

"Yo!" Jiraiya greeted, grinning.

"What brings you back here, pervert?" Tsunade replied tiredly as she inspected the equipment keeping the old Hokage alive.

"Is that how you greet an old team mate?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "It's because of you that I'm most likely going to be elected Hokage. I hate doing the paperwork and I can't gamble. This is such a pain in the ass."

Jiraiya chuckled, standing next to Tsunade now, "Oh come on, it's not that bad. It's better than moving from town to town gambling your life away. Now, at least you can settle down in your old village where you were raised."

"I guess you're right." Tsunade replied as she finished checking the equipment.

"How is he?" Jiraiya asked, concerned.

"He'll live," Tsunade answered, "And he can still fight but with his age, he definitely won't become Hokage again."

A moment of silence greeted them as the two Sannin watched their old teacher lying on the bed with all those tubes attached to his body. Although the poison was the one that nearly killed him, Sarutobi sustained multiple injuries throughout the fight and with his old body, it will take a much longer time to heal back completely.

"So, what brings you back here?" Tsunade asked without looking at Jiraiya.

"Have you met Naruto?"

Tsunade laughed softly, "That brat is one of the most annoying and noisiest kid I've ever met. He's definitely different from his father, who is calm…"

Jiraiya nodded, "He's got potential to be a great ninja."

"Answer my question." Tsunade insisted.

Jiraiya sighed, "It concerns the Akatsuki."

Tsunade turned to face her team mate, "You sure gather back a lot of information fast."

"Thanks for the compliment but the info I have found out is not much. It's just that a pair of them are in the fire country and I thought I should let you know to be careful."

Tsunade pursed her lips, "Will Naruto be safe with this… Maki?"

Jiraiya thought a moment before replying, "At the most, Maki can handle one member in a one-on-one situation but not two. But don't worry, if the Akatsuki are really after Naruto, Maki will summon me."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "I assume you convinced him to sign the toad contract?"

Jiraiya nodded, smiling. Tsunade shook her head. After all these years, Tsunade had never succeeded in convincing anyone to sign the slug contract with her, but then again, it was not as if she had actually bothered to do so. When Tsunade wanted to say something, she realised that Jiraiya was already gone.

"Stupid pervert." Tsunade mumbled, but smiled.

Despite her bad past in her home village, it was rather nostalgic to return here once more. A lot of things have changed the last time she was here. That had been years ago. Now, Konoha seemed to be much more bigger and Tsunade had never seen the fourth Hokage's face on the monuments. Tsunade then stared at her former sensei. He was so old and frail now, but it was a miracle that he was able to fight Orochimaru. If he was fifteen years younger, he could have easily defeated him, but now, Orochimaru was far stronger. Those were the days...

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Naruto dragged his tired body into his apartment, panting heavily as he did so. The training Maki gave today was the most intense since Naruto was part of team seven. They were all a minute late and Maki punished them by having them do chakra exercises and then after that, handing them each a scroll to continue on their training. But then again, they had actually enjoyed the training, especially Naruto. It was like spending time when Naruto and Sakura were being trained by Maki personally but Sasuke was there this time with them, which made it even more enjoyable.

But now, Naruto was dead tired and he dropped into his bed and instantly fell asleep. Naruto never even noticed Maki watching him from the outside, sitting on a rooftop. Next to the pink haired Jounin was an older man, with long white hair.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Maki asked the 'Toad Sannin.'

"Nothing important, but in precisely three days from now, Tsunade is going to be elected to be Hokage."

"Three days?" Maki asked, "But they have not even announced that to the village."

"They will tomorrow."

Maki groaned in despair, "Damn, then that means tomorrow is going to be a busy day!"


	39. Tsunade, the 5th Hokage

**Alright guys, So very,very,very sorry for the 2 month of no update. I was just so busy and felt lazy to update this story but hei, I finally found time. I hope that you guys had not forgotten this story and I promise I won't update this late again.**

**Next chapter: B-rank mission, without sensei!**

CHAPTER 39: TSUNADE, THE 5TH HOKAGE

Three days have passed quickly and finally, the day that will be publicly announced as the 5th Hokage of Konoha has arrived. However, it had not been easy to simply elect Tsunade to be the Hokage. For one, they needed the approval of most of the Jounins and approval from all the elite Jounins. The ANBU captain's votes were also important but that was not a problem since they all agreed that Tsunade would be the best candidate for Hokage.

The main problem was that Danzo, one of the senior council of Konoha had not agreed to this and wanted to be the Hokage himself. However, his objections were immediately brushed off since the other four Kage's from the other four power village had agreed that Tsunade should be Hokage. After all, Danzo seem to hold a grudge against Tsunade for being related to the first Hokage, or at least, that was what the rumours had suggested.

In an apartment quite far from the Hokage tower, a blonde Gennin was preparing himself for the big ceremony. Naruto looked at himself in the mirror to make sure he looked decent enough. After all, it was not everyday you get to watch the ceremony of electing a new Hokage. Naruto began to daydream, wondering how nice it would be when one day, it would be him that the whole village come to watch his election. Naruto shook his head to take him out of his daydream. At his current skills, it would be a joke for him to be a candidate of Hokage.

Naruto tied his headband to his forehead and ran made his way out of his apartment to meet up with his team. From what his teacher had told him, he told Naruto and the others to meet outside the Hokage tower. But now that Naruto thought about it, nearly the whole village would be there to watch the ceremony so just how the heck was he going to find his team mates. And Maki was not going to be there. He said something about being part of the ceremony with the other elite Jounins, so he could not meet up with them.

As Naruto exited the building of his apartments, Naruto was not surprised that the streets were empty. The ceremony was to begin in five minutes and knowing the citizens of Konoha, they had probably made their way an hour ago. Naruto sighed. That was the disadvantage of having the habit to get to his destination later than others but as the saying goes, old habits die hard. The shops all over Konoha were also closed since this ceremony was a holiday for the villagers. Naruto started to increase his walking speed towards the Hokage tower.

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Nara Shikamaru sighed softly to himself as he looked high above at the clouds, wishing his life would be as simple as the clouds. Shikamaru sometimes wished that he was born as a normal citizen; that way he wouldn't have got any troublesome missions but then again, if he was a citizen, he will have to still earn a living. Shikamaru shook his head while smiling, laughing at his own thoughts.

Shikamaru tried to close his eyes and fall asleep but the noise from the north-east of his location was causing a huge racket. Shikamaru turned his head to the left, looking at the Hokage tower. That was where the ceremony was being held. From here, the villagers looked like ants, mixed with different colours from their outfit.

"How troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered.

Shikamaru was lucky that his father had not found him. Since his father was the head of the clan, it was compulsory for him to attend the ceremony and with his mother so busy attending the ceremony, he had no one to bother him to attend the ceremony. Shikamaru laid down on the wooden table once more, looking at the clouds. He was about to doze off when he heard a voice.

"Shikamaru! What the hell are you doing here?!" A familiar voice roared.

Shikamaru instantly recognised that voice anywhere and turned around to find his father, Shikaku standing behind him. Shikamaru looked at him with tired eyes.

"I was cloud watching..." Shikamaru replied, "What are you doing here? I thought you had to be at the Hokage tower."

"You're not doing any cloud watching today!" Shikaku replied and with that, took his son and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shikamaru found himself now next to his mother, sighing softly. This was going to be a long day for the young Nara. Shikamaru realised that his father never answered the question regarding his presence to be at the Hokage tower.

'He's probably late,' Shikamaru thought, 'Like father, like son.'

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Outside the Hokage tower, all the villagers of Konoha were anxiously awaiting for the revealing of their 5th Hokage. All of the villagers have already heard who was chosen to be their Hokage, but most of the young generation did not know who she was. As for the middle-age citizens, half of them knew of her, but had never seen her while the senior citizens, those that lived during the great ninja war knew of her incredile healing abilities and skills, so were confident of her being Hokage.

At the very back of the villagers, two Gennin were waiting for the arrival of their third team mate. Sasuke was brooding, a sight that was now rarely seen ever since becoming a ninja of team seven. Sasuke checked the empty streets once more, with still no sign of their blonde haired companion. As for Sakura, she just stood her ground with her arms around her chest, waiting but deep down; she could not wait to yell at Naruto for being late, especially for an important ceremony like this.

"Hei guys! Sorry I'm..." Naruto said from far while running towards his team mates.

The moment Naruto reached Sakura, Sakura grabbed him by the collar and started shaking wildly.

"Where the hell were you?! Didn't we tell you not to be LATE!?! I should beat the hell out of you, you stupid idiot!!" Sakura ranted while shaking him.

Although Sasuke was mad at Naruto, Sasuke was now getting worried that Naruto might not survive the onslaught of his new team mate. After all, Sasuke had heard from Naruto in the past that Sakura was a woman that should not be messed with when she was pissef off. And right now, Sakura was beyong pissed.

"Sakura, calm down," Sasuke said, hoping to get Sakura's attention, "We don't want to cause any damage to Naruto."

Sakura looked at Naruto with eyes which were actually able to bring fear to the young Uchiha. There was even a surge of killing intent from Sakura and Sasuke decided to shut up, taking a step back. Sakura glared back at Naruto, her eyes demanding an explanation.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said weakly, "Forgive me. I won't repeat that mistake again..."

"You better not!" Sakura growled and let go of the blonde.

Naruto caught back his breath and got back to his feet, relieved that he had not received any of Sakura's blows. Despite being a female, her strength was pretty strong and if Sakura wanted to torture Naruto more, her genjutsu's were something a Gennin did not want to receive. However, if Naruto was in a spar with her, his chances of winning are higher since Naruto would be able to use shadow clones.

"Come on idiot," Sasuke called as he and Sakura started to mix into the crowd, "We can't get a clear view from here."

Naruto grumbled a short reply and followed his two team mates. It was pretty hard to get through the crowd, since the adults were bigger than them in size. Naruto continued making his way through the crowd and could see that he was at least getting nearer the Hokage tower. I guess being short had it's advantages after all. Then, Naruto spotted two people that he recognised, especiall the kid since Naruto had fought him once.

"Neji," Naruto called out, "I'm surprised to find you here."

Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hiashi turned to the source of the voice and realised it was Naruto that was speaking. Hiashi instantly recognised him as both the person that beat his brother's son and also as the container of the nine-tails demon fox. Neji just glared at Naruto, but not with the same hateful eyes. The eyes held no emotion but Naruto was relieved that Neji was no longer holding those eyes.

"Naruto-san," Hiashi said, his voice filled with respect, "I'm glad you're safe during the invasion."

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, "Of course! I'm not going to die until I become the future Hokage!"

Hiashi nodded slowly, and Hiashi had no doubt that Naruto would one day become Hokage. His determination was something that not every ninja possessed and it was because of that that Naruto was able to beat the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Where's Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Hinata-sama is currently with her team, somewhere in the crowd." Neji answered. Hiashi smiled at that. Neji's character had also changed ever since Neji found out the truth of his father and after his defeat to Naruto. Hiashi looked at Naruto once more. Yes, he would make a splendid Hokage one day in the future.

"Oh, alright then," Naruto smiled and started walking into the crowd, "I had better meet up with my own team then."

Sasuke sighed as he waited for Naruto to finish his conversation with the two Hyuuga's. Once Naruto reached him, the two continued on, trying to get closer to the Hokage tower. Sakura was busy chatting with Ino, their former team mate. From what they have heard, it seems that Ino was enjoying her time in training to be an herb specialist. That was after all her dream and Konoha does lack some herb specialist, much less compared to the number of medic-nins.

The two gennins of team seven finally found a spot where they could watch without having any of the adults to block their view, and that was on top of a building. It was strange they had never thought of that idea when they, as ninjas, could easily ascend to the rooftop. They weren't the only ones who have thought up of that idea. Several other ninjas were present on various rooftops, even a few of the Gennins that Naruto's seniors, but still in the rank of Gennins.

"Now all we have to do is wait..." Naruto mumbled, looking at the veranda of the Hokage tower, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

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Inside the Hokage tower, all ninjas and staff were busy in their respective tasks for the ceremony. They had to make sure that everything was in order. It is strange that a ceremony for such a simple task can also actually be difficult to others. The council members of Konoha were with Tsunade, discussing their expectations that they have on her becoming a Hokage.

Shizune took a peek outside from the window and could see the excited faces of the villagers. Yes, they should be excited. After all, their village had just survived an invasion from two villages' and not to mention that their old Hokage had nearly died. A new Hokage should secure the security of the village and hope to the villagers. Shizune sighed. She never thought the day that her master would ever return to Konoha ever since the death of her uncle. And here she was, waiting for her master to actually become Hokage.

"Will you hurry up Tsunade!" One of the councils scolded, "The people are waiting for you."

Tsunade gulped down her sake, "Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on. Sheesh..."

The councils all left the room, leaving the 'Slug Sannin' in the Hokage's office. The councils wondered if choosing Tsunade was the right choice since she seemed to have some gambling and drinking problem. It could ruin the reputation of the village if the other villages' hear about this and it could damage the financial situation of the village.

Tsunade sighed heavily, wanting to pour another cup of sake but knowing that being drunk infront of the villagers was not something wise to do. She stood up and grabbed the Hokage's robe, looking at it. It brought back memories of her when she was young, when the 3rd Hokage was still young and teaching her and her other two team mates. Tsunade chuckled and wore the robe around her. It was time to head out. Tsunade opened the door and was greeted by a voice.

"Tsunade-sama, you're late." Shizune told Tsunade, walking next to her.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Look, I've got enough of those old farts telling me that I'm late, so I don't need you to tell me that."

Shizune gulped and clutched Ton-ton tightly on her chest. As the two walked in the hallway of the Hokage tower, a line of ANBU ninjas stood at attention. Shizune was not used to this kind of attention but since her master was now the Hokage, and she the assisstant, she will have to get used to this treatment.

At the veranda of the Hokage tower, all ANBU captains and elite Jounins were waiting patiently for Tsunade to arrive. They could hear the excited voices of the villagers from here, wanting to see the face of the new Hokage. The senior council members were also present and so was the feudal lord. One of the senior council members was giving a speech to the villagers regarding the background of Tsunade, but they were obviously leaving out the background about her gambling and drinking habit.

Maki sighed as he stood at attention, wishing that the ceremony would end soon or else he was going to die from boredom of listening to the speech of that senior council member. Maki brushed a strand of pink hair away from his eyes just as the old man finished his boring speech. Maki looked at the entrance of the veranda and he could see that the ANBU ninjas were now standing at attention once more, and Maki knew the cause of that.

"Finally..." Maki muttered to himself.

"She's finally here, eh?" Kakashi spoke softly, looking at the entrance with a lazy eye.

Maki nodded, "Took her long enough though. Standing here under the hot sun not doing anything is like a punishment when I was in the academy."

Kakashi chuckled as he stood straight in attention, "Yeah. This is the first time I don't get to read my book."

"You should be careful," Maki replied, looking at the copy ninja, "Since that book was published by Jiraiya-sama, I don't think Tsunade will hesitate tearing the book into pieces infront of you."

Kakashi scratched his spiky hair nervously, "Yeah, yeah. Look, here she comes now."

Maki turned and there he saw the great 'Slug Sannin' walking towards them with her assisstant next to her, carrying their pet pig. It was pretty strange to see a woman wearing the Hokage's robe. After all, Maki had been used to see the third Hokage wear the robe, and then the fourth wore it for a short time, and then the third again. Yes, seeing a female ninja wearing the red robe of the Hokage was something that Maki will have to get used to.

"It looks like we'll be taking orders from a woman. "A male elite Jounin next to Maki commented.

"Looks like it." Maki replied. Maki had never really acquainted with this elite Jounin. He had black curly hair and a thick moustache and from what Maki has heard, he was a lightning user, like that of Kakashi and specialises in using lightning techniques for defence purposes. Since Maki had never partnered up with him before, Maki has absolutely no idea of his abilities.

Tsunade continued on walking, looking at the faces of the elite Jounins of Konoha. She ignored the ANBU captains since she couldn't see their real faces and so, could not identify them, for now. Out of the 80 elite Jounins present, Tsunade recognised about five of them from the past and another 4 that she has heard stories about their appearence. But Tsunade was looking for two elite Jounins that Jiraiya had told her about.

Flashback

There was one more day before the ceremony begins for the villagers to finally know who the 5th Hokage of Konoha was. The villagers were only informed that the new Hokage was in Konoha, but not who and how he/she looks like. This only caused the villagers to want to know the answer more, but there was no way the council was going to reveal it to them before the actual day.

Tsunade was in a bar, drinking a cup of sake without the presence of her assisstant. Tsunade was waiting for Jiraiya since he had told her that he wanted to tell her of two certain ninjas that has some contact with him. At the right time, Jiraiya entered the bar, spotted Tsunade and took a seat at the opposite side of the booth.

"This seems like a date." Jiraiya commented, grinning.

"Don't you even dare think that it is." Tsunade hissed, pouring another cup of sake, "Let's just get straight to the point now."

"Fine, fine," Jiraiya looked at Tsunade in the eyes, "I just wanted to tell you that I will be leaving Konoha for a few weeks."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "No surprise there."

"Yeah, but I wanted to let you know that there are two elite Jounins in Konoha that I trust fully. Just in case you need them to contact me or whatever, tell them to find me." Jiraiya told Tsunade.

"Why them? I could just assign any ninjas to locate you." Tsunade questioned, feeling the effects of sake running around her body. Tsunade was starting to giggle, but she could still make sense of the situation.

Jiraiya held his right hand up and said, "One, I only trust these two. If you send other ninjas, I will make sure that they will never be able to find me." Jiraiya paused, "Two, because whatever reason they need to find me, there could be a risk of Akatsuki chasing them down, and if that is true, they should be able to take care of themself, or at least long enough until they can contact me and I will reinforce them."

Tsunade nodded, "So who are they?"

"One of them, I am sure you're familiar of him. He is the son of the 'White Fang,' Hatake Kakashi." Jiraiya informed Tsunade.

"The son of Sakumo?" Tsunade was a little surprised, "He is an elite Jounin now. Time sure flies."

Jiraiya agreed, "And the second one, is Haruno Maki."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "Never heard of him."

Jiraiya smiled, "I thought so. A lot of people never know him because they don't know his real name. He is more popular when they use his nickname."

"Nickname?"

"Like Kakashi, Kakashi is known as 'The Copy Ninja' while Maki is known as 'The Replicator.' Does that ring a bell?"

Tsunade had a surprised look, "The replicator? He is a ninja of Konoha? I'm surprised that we have two famous and powerful ninjas in our village."

Jiraiya nodded and got out of the booth, "Yeah, now before I go, I will tell you how they look like."

End of flashback

Tsunade looked around, trying to find the description that she needed to find these two ninjas. Although she could just call for them later on, it would be embarassing to call them just to see them and not assign them to anything. No, she has to find them. Tsunade looked to her right, and tried to find the description of Kakashi.

"He has silver spiky hair, and his hair seems to be flowing to his left. If you remember, just like when he was young, he wore a mask but this time, the mask covers his mouth and his headband covers his left eye, to cover his Sharingan eye." Jiraiya had said last night in their meeting.

"As for Maki, the most noticeable feature that kid has is that he has long pink hair. Basically, that's all I can tell you about him, long pink hair."

Tsunade groaned as she tried to find but she realised she was nearing the end of the veranda. But that was when she finally spotted both Maki and Kakashi at the same time. The two were standing next to each other and they were quite near the end of the veranda. And that was when Tsunade knew that these two were powerful ninjas.

Even though all the Jounins here at the veranda were elite, only four elite Jounins were allowed to stand near the end of the veranda at a ceremony when a new Hokage reveals himself/herself to the villagers. These four elite Jounins were basically the top four among all other elite Jounins. Tsunade looked to her right, and the third Elite Jounin was a man with plain black hair and this Jounin was wearing green tights.

'I wonder what his speciality is?' Tsunade thought, looking at Gai up and down.

Tsunade finally reached the end of the veranda and looked down at the villagers. The villagers had not yet noticed that Tsunade was there, and she took the opportunity to survey the village. Yes, it had been a long time since she took a clear view of her old home. The last time she was able to watch a view like this was when she was a child and the first Hokage, her grandfather, was carrying her at that time.

Maki observed Tsunade from here. Despite covering her body with the Hokage's robe, Maki for the first time noticed that she had humongous breasts. And he meant humongous. Maki looked at Kakashi, and he had obviously noticed since he was blushing deep red, despite his face hidden by a mask.

'Kakashi, you perverted idiot.' Maki thought, smiling.

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Naruto was taken out of his thoughts when he heard the villagers of Konoha cheering loudly. Naruto looked at the crowd and it was true, they were all cheering and were pointing at the veranda of the Hokage tower. There, Naruto could see a figure removing the robe of the Hokage, and at that instant, Naruto knew that this person was the new Hokage.

"People of Konoha," Tsunade said loudly, "I, Tsunade, am the 5th Hokage of Konoha. I will see to it that under my reign, Konoha will continue to prosper in peace and protect the lives of you all. I will put the safety of the village before me first, and will gladly sacrifice my life for you all, just like how the 3rd had nearly lost his life in fighting for his home and how the 4th gave his life away so that the village could continue to prosper. I will make sure that Konoha will continue on for future generations as the 5th Hokage!!"

The villagers all cheered happily, screaming the name of Hokage. Naruto watched in awe at the new Hokage, especially since the new Hokage was a woman. That was a first for the history of Konoha. Sasuke was clapping, happy that Konoha had a new Hokage and from what he studied in the academy, this new Hokage was one of the legendary Sannin.

"It looks like Konoha has a new Hokage, eh, Naruto-kun?" Sakura said, holding Naruto's hand.

Naruto looked at Sakura and clutched her hand tightly, "It looks like it. And one day, I will be the one that will be giving a speech something like that."

Sakura snorted, "If you're going to make a speech, you had better make sure it leave a good impression and not something that will cause the villagers to laugh."

Naruto and Sakura laughed at that as they continued on cheering for the new 5th Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade, the 'Slug Sannin.'

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A few miles away from the village of Konoha, two ninjas were walking on a lonely road. They have been walking for weeks now, and their new mission was to gather information on 'him' so that they can know about his abilities. They finally spotted a village, and they decided to rest at an inn when they find one.

"It is not fair that you get the mightiest of all the beasts." The taller one said, revealing his sharp teeth.

"Orders are orders," The shorter one said, his voice showing that he was the superior one, "And we're not going there to capture him. We just need to gather information on him."

"Well, I hope we get to fight a little. I have not been in a fight for days now." The taller figure replied, revealing his large blade.

They finally entered the town but a ninja stopped them. The two ninjas stopped.

"What is your purpose here?" The guard questioned.

None of the two replied but the shorter one did make some movements. He took off his hat and revealed his red eyes, looking directly into the eyes of the guard. The guard suddenly felt sleepy and as he finally drifted to uncounciousness, the last thing he remembered was seeing red eyes and black cloacks.

"I would have loved to fight him!" The taller one said, looking at his partner.

"All in due time, Kisame." The shorter one said.

"You always say that, Itachi." Kisame replied, once more reveaing his sharp teeth.


	40. B rank mission without sensei

**Alright guys, sorry for the 2 week delay. Here is the new update. Nothing new to report on so yeah.**

**Next chapter, "Akatsuki!"**

CHAPTER 40: B-RANK MISSION WITH NO SENSEI

The village of Konoha was fully operational after weeks of repairs. It had been a terrible time for Konoha, almost like the time in the great ninja war and if looked carefully into the history of Konoha, it was the first time the enemies were able to breach the walls of Konoha. Of course, the enemy was smart, using the opportunity to attack when it was Konoha's turn to host the Chuunin exams.

The new Hokage had been doing a good job so far, giving order to the citizens on what they were expected to do, accepting the right missions and using the village incomes for the right reasons. But Tsunade's reign had just begun four days ago, so it was still a long way to go before they can say she did a great job.

But at least now all ninjas were now allowed to do missions. As a matter of fact, it was about time that they were allowed to do missions. It was the only source of income for the ninjas and also for the village and its reputation. The longer Konoha waste time in accepting missions, the more the smaller villages' will hire other village ninjas. However, because of Konoha's desperate need for money and completing missions, nearly all ninjas were dispatched and most of them were seperated into smaller numbers so that they could complete more missions. The elite Jounins were either doing solo missions or partnered with another Jounin while the other ninja groups like Chuunin were doing a three-man mission without a leader.

This method was actually quite dangerous since it puts the risk of the ninjas. However, Konoha really needed the income and gain back their reputation so this was a must. After all, Konoha ninjas won't fall that easily to the likes of their enemies in a mission. The council members were happy that the village was becoming the once powerful village it was once was.

At the far end of the village, a lone boy wakes up from his slumber. Sasuke scratched his head and yawned, looking out the window. Seeing that the sun was already up, he knew that it was seven in the morning. His biological clock always woke him up at this time. Sasuke simply took a quick shower and then wore his blue shirt with the Uchiha emblem on his back. Once he had made sure he got everything and was ready to meet up with his team, he left his house.

Since Sasuke was the son of the Uchiha clan leader, his house was the biggest. But now that Sasuke looked at his house from the outside, it doesn't really matter, ever since his clan was slaughtered. Sasuke sighed heavily and walked alone, looking at the deserted buildings of the Uchiha clan. He remembered it like yesterday, when the area was lively, with so many Uchiha's walking the streets. Now, he was the last of his kind in Konoha.

Once Sasuke was out of the Uchiha grounds, he jumped up to the nearest rooftop and began chakra sprinting from there. Even though he was early, Sasuke liked to be the first to be at the meeting place. After all, since that his team's meeting place was at the bath house, he could... Sasuke started giggling, feeling his face heat up.

'Damn it,' Sasuke thought, 'I got to stop hanging around Naruto to much. He's running his influence into me.'

Despite that, Sasuke knew that peeping on the women was just something that was too hard to stop. After all, he was a growing boy; he needed to know what secrets were hidden from him. That was when Sasuke realised he had a minor nose bleed. Sasuke cursed as he jumped to the next rooftop, wiping away the blood.

Imagine his surprise when Sasuke spotted Sakura waiting for her team there. Sasuke tripped when he stepped on a crack on a roof and fell face first on the ground, and landing right at Sakura's feet.

"Sasuke," Sakura said, "How the hell can a ninja, an Uchiha especially, trip?"

"I wasn't paying attention! My mind was elsewhere!" Sasuke retorted, picking himself up.

Sakura looked carefully at Sasuke, "Is your nose bleeding? You did fall face-first you know?"

Sasuke panicked. Sasuke have been told by Naruto a couple of times that Sakura was a person that hates people who are perverted. But then again, she had no suspicions that he was like Naruto.

"Yeah, probably from the floor." Sasuke lied.

Sakura nodded and then turned around, leaning on a tree. Sasuke sighed in relief, happy that he had evaded the fists of Sakura. Sasuke made a mental note to make sure to never peek at the bath house when they have team meet again, or else, he just might get caught. Sasuke looked for their teacher and Naruto, but it was clear that none of the two were here yet. The two were always late.

After waiting patiently for another eight minutes or so, the two Gennins of team seven spotted Naruto running towards them. Naruto knew he was late, but he could see that their pink haired teacher was not there yet so he was able to avoid another lecture from him. It is ironic that he comes late sometimes but he simply brushes it off. Life was not fair in the relations between a teacher and a student.

"Hei guys," Naruto greeted, smiling, "Sorry I'm late!"

"You're always late, idiot." Sasuke commented, walking to Naruto.

"Shut up," Naruto replied, looking closely at Sasuke, "You look like you had a nosebleed. You actually dared take a peek with Sakura-chan in our team now?"

Before Sasuke could reply, Sakura entered the conversation, "What are you guys talking about?"

"NOTHING!!" Sasuke said immediately, waving his hands, "We were talking about nothing!"

Sakura gave a confuse look, "What? You guys are talking about nothing? Whatever, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But we better hurry up; we have to get to the Hokage tower for our mission."

"Don't we have to wait for Maki-sensei first?" Naruto asked.

Sakura shook her head and started to make her way for the Hokage tower, "Nope, he said that the Hokage was giving him a solo mission. So, it looks like we will be having our own mission."

Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other, both wondering if they had heard it right. The two then looked at Sakura, who was walking further away from them. After standing there like two complete idiots for a couple of seconds, the two ninjas quickly started running, wanting to get to the tower and hear of their first mission ever without the guidance pf their teacher.

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Haruno Maki waved at a couple of ninjas that were exiting the mission hall. Out of the three Chuunins, he knew two of them since he once led them on a B-rank mission, he as the team leader. They were good ninjas, and should be able to reach the rank of Jounin one day. Maki entered the mission hall, and saw that he had to wait in line behind another team comprised of two Jounin and an elite Jounin.

Maki was grateful that he had a mission solo for a couple of reasons. One, was that a solo mission would mean that he won't have to be responsible for anyone else's life but his own and the mission time span might be shorter. Also, the pay would be greater and the mission might be more of a challenge.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, the Hokage was finally finished with briefing the team and sent them off on their mission. The elite Jounin smiled at Maki and Maki returned it. The two have been on missions several times, even once going into the territory of the Rock village to complete their task, which was a dangerous thing to do, with the two villages' still in bad terms and all.

"Hokage-sama," Maki said, stepping forward, "I'm here for my mission briefing."

Tsunade looked at Maki and recognised him but her expression showed no change, "Right, what's your name and rank?"

"Haruno Maki, an elite Jounin, Hokage-sama." Maki answered.

Tsunade of course knew that, but she had to act like it, "Right, elite Jounin eh?" Tsunade started browsing through a large stack of papers and when she finally found what she was looking for, she took the piece of paper and began reading it, "Alright then, I'm assigning you an A-rank mission. Luckily for you, the mission is within the area of the Fire country so we expect you to be back in a day."

Maki nodded and Tsunade continued, "Well, to the north-east of Konoha, a village has been threatened by bandits and it is believed that the bandits are trained in the arts of a ninja, and from what the clients have informed us, the leader is a missing-nin from the country of grass, a Jounin level. It is also reported that they have kidnapped the daughter of the village leader."

"Understood," Maki answered, taking the sheet of paper from Tsunade, "So, do I have to eliminate all of them or do I have to capture the missing-nin?"

Tsunade thought for a moment, "Do what you want. It would be best to eliminate all of them, capturing a missing-nin will be troublesome since Konoha has to contact the Grass country and do more transactions. That will be annoying for me."

Maki sweatdropped, "Roger that. I will take my leave then."

Maki turned and was about to exit the mission hall when to his surprise, his team came in. Sakura was the first to notice her uncle and she stopped, causing the two boys to bump onto her. Naruto was about to question Sakura when he saw what she was looking at. Sasuke also saw and all of them looked at each other.

"I see that you guys are going to take your mission?" Maki asked, looking at his niece.

"Yeah," Naruto answered, "How come you won't be coming with us?"

"I have my own mission. After all, the village needs to send more ninjas for mission so they figured you guys can handle things on your own now." Maki explained, "I won't be leading you guys this time so I expect you guys to be more careful this time."

"Heh," Naruto snorted, "We are no longer amateurs, Maki-sensei. We can take care of ourself."

"Right," Maki replied, "Well, I got to go."

With that, Maki turned and walked out of the mission hall, leaving the three Gennins of team seven. The three walked up to the Hokage, with Sasuke leading them this time. The other council members looked at Naruto, remembering that they got the report that he defeated Gaara, the jinchuuriki of the Sand village. From what they have been reported, the battle that took place between the two Jinchuuriki's at training ground number fourteen, that area needed serious repairs.

"And what is your team number?" Tsunade asked, looking at Naruto, the son of the fourth Hokage.

"Team seven, Hokage-sama." Sasuke answered.

"Hei, who made you the team leader?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke in the eyes.

Before Sasuke could reply, Sakura interrupted, "Oh no, you don't!" Sakura scolded, "That is how you two will always get into arguements. I am getting sick of that, so why don't you two just shut up?"

Naruto and Sasuke stared at Sakura, and could feel her large amount of killing intent being released. For a female, she sure was terrifying, completely different from their former Yamanaka team mate. Naruto slowly backed away, standing behind Sasuke. Sasuke gulped loudly, feeling sweat pouring down his face. Tsunade was impressed with Sakura's attitude. She used to bring fear to Jiraiya that way. Tsunade smiled at the memories.

"So," Tsunade started, "You guys are team seven, eh?"

Tsunade took out a sheet of paper and began reading the information of team seven. After all, she was just made a new Hokage, so she didn't really know much about the Gennin teams. Tsunade was now only familiar with some of the Jounins and all information of the ANBU squads.

'So they are the rookie Gennins of this year,' Tsunade read from the information of team seven, 'Their sensei is Haruno Maki. So that explains why they had a little chat earlier on. Let's see... They entered the Chuunin exams this year. That's impressive, since they just graduated from the academny this year, but none were promoted. They have completed eight D-rank missions, four C-rank missions and one B-rank mission that was originally ranked a C-rank mission. From that mission, they have taken out an important elite Rock Jounin, Yura Dawari. I've heard of that name before.'

Tsunade looked at team seven, impressed that this team had so many achievements in their first year. Tsunade had also once heard of that Rock elite Jounin, Dawari. For their team to take out an elite Jounin, when only prepared for a C-rank mission was indeed impressive. Tsunade stopped reading their profile and started looking for a suitable mission.

"What's taking her so long?" Naruto whispered at Sakura.

Sakura shrugged, "I don't know. Let's just wait for her. She is after all a new Hokage, probably not used to the job."

Tsunade finally found a suitable mission for team seven, "Alright, listen carefully. I'm giving you guys a B-rank mission. In a village to the north, an assassin has been taking out several important people of the village. If all the leaders are killed, that village will be in chaos and that will be bad for Konoha. That village is one of the main sources of our food supply and if that village goes into chaos, our villagr will suffer."

"So our mission is to find and kill this assassin?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade nodded, "That is correct and make it fast. It should take you a few hours to get there. From the report we got from the client, the assassin have killed three of their important figures. If they succeed in killing the last four, it will be chaos for the village."

"Isn't this mission a little too much to be put on Gennins like us?" Sakura asked, a little afraid from hearing the mission details and what was expected of them.

"I know it's asking a lot," Tsunade replied, agreeing with Sakura, "But I trust your abilites and from what the report says, your team is pretty good. After all, you three will need experience for missions such as this without the guidence of your sensei."

"Understood." Naruto and Sakura said at the same time, and then followed by Sasuke.

With that, the three ninjas of team seven walked out of the mission hall, ready for their mission. Once they have exited the hall, another team entered the mission hall to receive their mission. Tsunade wondered if it was okay to send Naruto and his team without a Jounin to guide them, after all, Tsunade had been informed from Jiraiya that the Akatsuki were currently active, travelling the lands and it could be disastrous if Naruto faced them. But her hands were all tied up since the senior council members told Tsunade that the village needed to finish more missions to get money.

"Alright then," Sakura started as they walked out of the Hokage tower, "We will meet up at the North gate of Konoha in precisely thirty minutes."

"That's fine with me." Sasuke said, and Naruto nodded. With that, Sasuke started to make his way back to the Uchiha compound. Sakura was about to head home to prepare for her mission when she felt someone grabbed her arm.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whined, "We haven't been spending much quality time together..."

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura shot back, "We don't have time for this! We have to get ready for a mission and..."

Naruto shut Sakura up by locking his lips with her, and Sakura was at first too shocked to react. After a couple of seconds, Sakura responded and kissed Naruto back, her hands locking around Naruto's neck. They were lucky that this was an empty street of Konoha, or else, they would have beem told to stop by now. Naruto finally pulled back, but this time, Sakura was the one that took action, pulling Naruto back and kissing him hard, and at the same time, pushing her tongue into Naruto's shocked mouth, tasting him. After a whole minute, the two young teenagers finally let go with one another, breathing hard and their faces blushing bright red in colour.

"You call this spending quality time?" Sakura finally said, clenching her fists, "You pervert!"

"Calm down, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, backing away, "I just did that to get your attention... And to show how much I missed you."

For a second, Naruto thought Sakura was going to clobber him but Naruto could see that his words had at least softened her a little bit. What Naruto said was true after all, he missed her and they rarely spend quality time together after that stupid invasion. They were all so busy with the repairs that they could not even go on a date.

Sakura gritted her teeth and indeed planned to at least give him a slap, but for one thing, Naruto was an excellent kisser. Sakura could feel her face heat up from that thought. Sakura couldn't even remember when was the last time they had kissed like that, perhaps before the invasion. She could not remember. Sakura looked at Naruto's ocean blue eyes. She always found those eyes beautiful.

Sakura finally sighed, "Fine. Let's just head back to my house so that I can get my ninja equipments and we can have some lunch together."

Naruto smiled at himself happily as he followed Sakura to her house. Now that Naruto thought about it, it would be the first time that Naruto was going to be entering Sakura's house. And from what Maki had told him, the reason why he never brought him to his house was because of Sakura's mom, she still hated Naruto for having the nine-tailed demon fox. The thought of that brought doubt into Naruto's head.

"Hei, Sakura-chan," Naruto called nervously, "Isn't your mom home?"

Sakura turned around and shooked her head "Don't worry. After mom went shopping, she went to her friend's house. Knowing her, she will spend hours over there." Sakura then looked carefully at Naruto, "You seem to not want to go to my house if mom is present. Does it have anything to do with what uncle Maki said? That she hates you?"

Of course, that was the right answer but Naruto couldn't say that. From his past experience with Sakura, she will demand to know why would Sakura's mom be so upset about and Naruto had absolutely no intentions of telling her or ever telling her. So Naruto did what he thought would best be the answer. He shrugged.

Sakura doubted Naruto for a moment but then brushed it off, "Whatever, come on, we got to go."

Of course deep down, Sakura knew that Naruto holds a secret about something. Sakura had of course noticed the death glares given to Naruto and her mother was most likely also one of them. Sakura really wanted to know what the reason was for this. Naruto couldn't have done something that bad, could he?

It took them just four minutes to finally reach the Haruno household. Sakura took out a small key from her pouch and unlocked the door, entering her house. Naruto followed suit and the two removed their ninja sandals. Sakura led the way into the house. Sakura then turned around, looking at Naruto.

"Alright, we still got some time before we have to meet up with Sasuke," Sakura said, "So I'll just prepare us a small snack for both of us and then we can pick up our ninja tools from my room. I got extra, so it's okay that you use some."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, laughing softly, "Are you sure it's okay."

"The weapons are cheap, Naruto-kun," Sakura replied, rolling her eyes, "Now, go and make yourself at home. I won't be long." With that, Sakura disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Naruto alone in the living room.

Naruto sighed tiredly as he stretched his arms on the sofa. 'I could get used to this.' Naruto thought to himself. This was the first time Naruto had sat on such a soft sofa, since the one at his apartment was so hard that it could be compared to that of a rock. Naruto looked around the living room. It was nice; it was also obvious that the room had a touch of female taste. Naruto then saw a picture in the living room that got his attention. He stood up and looked closely at the picture.

The picture contained a man and a woman, and the guy had short pink hair, unlike his teacher. Naruto also noted that this man was much taller than Maki and also in the looks. No doubt he had trouble fending himself off the ladies. Naruto chuckled at that thought, remembering that Sasuke had that problem in the academy days. The woman, Naruto recognised as Sakura's mom, Suyuki. But this was a younger version of her.

"Hei, Sakura-chan," Naruto called out while still looking at the picture, "Who's this in the picture?"

Sakura came out with a plate of sandwiches, and some traditional biscuits that Konoha had specialised. Sakura placed the plate on a nearby table and approached Naruto, looking at the picture.

"Which one are you referring to?" Sakura asked.

"The guy, the one that looks like Maki-sensei," Naruto pointed at the man, "That can't be Maki-sensei, right?"

Sakura smacked her lips together, hesitating for a moment, "That's... Uncle Maki's older brother, Haruno Hanaki."

Naruto was surprised, "Maki-sensei had a brother?! Wow, how come he never mentioned about him?"

"He died twelve years ago, Naruto-kun. He's my father." Sakura answered, looking at the picture of her father. There was definitely resemblence with her father, especially the colour of the eyes. Green.

Naruto gasped, "Your... Your father..? Sakura-chan, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

Sakura shook her head, "It's okay, Naruto-kun." Sakura looked at the picture again, "I never really knew him. I was not even a year old when he died. Uncle Maki never really told me about his death, it still hurts him."

The two were silent for a moment there, not knowing what to say. Naruto was awed that he finally got to see how Sakura's father looked like, althogh in a rather unpleasant way. Hanaki was indeed taller than Maki, from the picture he could tell. Sakura finally made the move by grabbing the plate.

"Here, let's eat and then we can get ready to meet up with Sasuke." Sakura stated, taking one of the sandwich.

Naruto gladly took a sandwich and to his surprise, it was delicious. Sakura then told him how her mother had not wanted Sakura to be a ninja for fear of following her father's path but her uncle talked her into it. As a matter of fact, they had this arguement the day Sakura first met Naruto at the playground after he saved her from the bullies. Naruto laughed from the memory. If Sakura had not met Naruto, Sakura might never become a ninja.

"I learnt how to cook at the age of four," Sakura continued on her life story, "Simple dishes at first but I really became good quick. My mum just wanted me to become a housewife when I grow up. After all, in the Haruno history, my father and uncle were the first to actually take up the path of a ninja. That was why my mum thought I wouldn't be following their path but I guess I followed my father's path. But I do cook for the family from time to time."

Naruto smiled, "You'll make a good wife in the future for a ninja," Naruto commented, "Beautiful, talented in the ninja field and can cook. That's very good."

Sakura stared at Naruto and him at her. Now the two were in an awkward silence. Naruto's last comment brought a blush on Sakura's cheeks as she envisioned a future where she was a wife greeting Naruto home. Naruto had the same thought. The two were now blushing furiously but luckily for them, an interruption occured.

"Are you guys going to hurry up or what?" A voice called out from the kitchen window.

Both Naruto and Sakura turned to find Sasuke watching them with a bored expression. Instantly, the two were in a panic, looking for their weapons and preparing to depart. Sasuke sighed as he watched the duo in a mess.

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Far from Konoha, in the north-east, several ninjas were patrolling their hidden camp. After all, they have been causing problems to the few nearby villages so they were certain that Konoha would send in a team of ninjas to take care of them. However, these bandits, trained in the arts of the ninja were prepared because their leader was a missing nin from the country of Grass and a Jounin at that.

There were only three patrols jumping around the trees stealthily. They couldn't wait until their shift is over. The woman that they caught, a daughter of one of the village leader was a beautiful woman and had all the right curves. So far, she has not been touched yet but their leader promised that the woman was free for tonight. The three patrol ninjas were excited with that thought.

"Hei," One of the patrols said suddenly, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," The second guy replied, "We should check it out."

The third bandit was bigger among the other two and seemed to be the leader. They followed his movements as he led the way. Finally, they spotted what they had suspected. A konoha ninja was perched on a tree branch and the ninja seemed to be scouting the area. It was obvious that the ninja had not sensed them.

"Where are the rest of his team mates?" The second bandit asked, his voice raspy.

"He's most likely the scout of the team," The bandit informed the second bandit, looking at the ninja, "We had better take care of him before he returns to his team. And use your full potential; this guy is wearing a Jounin vest. He's a Jounin."

With that, the leader jumped down from the tree branch to the groud whiles the other two splitted up. The leader was an experienced bandit and had killed several ninjas before, even Chuunin. He was most likely on the bingo book, although probably not a very high amount of reward but good enough. The Konoha ninja finally spotted him and took out a kunai.

"Earth technique! Devouring technique!"

The Konoha ninja was taken by surprise as the ground started to swallow up the tree. The other bandits appeared, one of them most likely responsible for the earth technique. The other bandit threw several knives at the Konoha ninja. It forced him to jump down from the tree. The leader took this opportunity to cast a few seals.

"Earth technique! Wrath of the gods' technique!"

The ground arond the bandit erupted and the small pieces of rock were thrown at the Konoha Jounin at an incredible velocity. The Jounin was able to avoid them but it was what the bandit planned, taking out a katana. The Jounin landed right in front of the bandit as the bandit sliced the Jounin's neck.

"Is he dead?" The first bandit asked, walking next to the Jounin's body.

Before the leader could reply, the Jounin's body disappeared in a puff of smoke. All three were caught by surprise and immediately backed away in fear, arming themselves for a fight. From the bushes, a kunai flew toward the second bandit so fast that none of them saw it. The kunai pierced the bandit's neck, immediately killing him. The remaining two looked at the dead body of their comrade and to their utter shock, another shadow clone appeared from the kunai.

The clone acted quickly, running up to the inexperienced bandit and quickly finishing off the bandit by plunging his kunai into the belly of the bandit. The clone then turned to look at the leader. The leader showed no fear and was prepared, a katana in front of him and he was in a defensive stance. Unfortunately, a figure appeared from above, and landed right behind the bandit and quickly grabbed the man by the neck and with no hesitation, sliced the man's neck off, sending him off to the afterlife.

"Idiots," Maki muttered, "They didn't take a Konoha Jounin would make such a noise when moving from tree branch did they? They should have suspected that it was a trap."

Maki looked at his clone, "Alright, let's go. The camp should be nearby."

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Uchiha Itachi continued surveying the village from where he was and he knew that once they have arrived, he should be able to see from here. His partner was standing impatiently, wanting to have his blade taste some blood. No doubt that after they have finished their mission, they will need to attack a bandit camp to help Kisame's hunger.

"Do you really think they will fall for this trap?" Kisame asked, placing his blade on his shoulder.

"Ah," Itachi replied, "Konoha is too much in panic mode to sense the genjutsu I placed on that man. They will think it was a real mission."

Kisame chuckled, "I would love to see those brats try to search for an assassin that does not exist."

"We are not here to have fun," Itachi replied coolly, "Once they arrive, we strike."


	41. Akatsuki

**Hei guys, here is the new update. I apologize that this chapter is sort of short but there is nothing I could think of to write. I promise you the next chapter will be longer. Please REVIEW! Heheheheh**

**Next chapter, "Konoha Jounins vs Akatsuki"**

CHAPTER 41: AKATSUKI

Uchiha Itachi waited patiently as he sat on a small hill that overlooked the small village. His partner was no where to be seen. The two seperated when Kisame claimed that he wanted to patrol the perimeter, hoping to find some unfortunate bandit that would taste the blade of the Samahada. Itachi looked up at the sky, his red eyes watching the birds that were flying high above him. It was a cool weather today with the sun hidden behind the clouds.

Itachi pushed away a couple of strands of his hair away from his eyes as the wind blew it. Itachi deactivated his Sharingan for a moment, hoping to save some of his chakra. Although his body is that of the Uchiha clan, he did not want to waste any of his chakra since his target was approaching, he can feel his huge chakra, although he was still a distance away. Since Itachi will be targeting Naruto, the nine-tailed host, Itachi knew that there will be certain ninjas that would be guarding him, ninjas that could at least challenge him and that will require chakra to beat them. Itachi had no doubt he could take care of them, but he could not take on the whole of Konoha.

"It looks like they're getting closer." Kisame observed, approaching Itachi.

"It would be an embarassment to Akatsuki if you had not felt their chakra signatures." Itachi commented.

Kisame smirked, swinging his large blade and placing it on his right shoulder while still holding the handle, "So, when do we strike?"

Itachi glared at Kisame, his Sharingan activated once more, "I've told you, we're not attacking them. We will simply test the host without challenging him directly. After that, we will report back to our leader."

"That's not fun," Kisame complained, "To test out the brat, we should fight him one on one! I would be the most suitable one!"

Itachi ignored the tall ninja, once more overlooking the village. Although it could be said that the two do not get along, compared to the other Akatsuki pairs, Itachi and Kisame were the only one's that did not really have much arguements or fights. Itachi respected Kisame and vice versa for their reputation.

"Have you heard?" Kisame asked suddenly, "That our old snake friend attacked Konoha recently?"

Itachi nodded, "A failed attempt. He always had stupid dreams, and never able to fulfill them. Because of that, he left Akatsuki. Pathetic."

Kisame grinned, "And Sasori is still looking for him. It seems the two have a score to settle."

Itachi closed his eyes, "That is not of our concern."

"You're one to talk. After all, you were the one that was responsible for destroying his arms."

Itachi ignored his partner as he waited patiently for his targets to arrive. Itachi could see from here the peaceful villagers in their village, each going through their everyday life. Itachi wondered if the target he was after would be suspicious. After all, the genjutsu he placed on that peasant made sure to report to Konoha that the village was in chaos. The scene in the village was definitely the opposite of that.

"It looks like they're finally here." Kisame said, grinning like a mad man.

Itachi spotted them too and he could see the nine-tailed Jinchuuriki with his two other team mates. However, Itachi also spotted his brother with him, and he knew that confronting him would result in a fight, which would attract the attention of Konoha. They had no time for this. Itachi watched Sasuke walking next to Naruto from where he sat with the eyes of the Sharingan.

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Sasuke could feel he was being watched and looked at a hill behind the village. From where he was, Sasuke thought he saw two dark figures close to a tree but they were gone in a flash. Sasuke figured his eyes were probably playing tricks on him. Even if that was the assassin that Sasuke spotted, it was highly unlikely since the report only stated there was one assassin. Then again, it could be the assassin's accomplice.

"Alright then," Sakura started, "Let's get a room at an inn first. After that, we can patrol the village, get used to the surroundings and we meet up again. Then at night, we'll be on guard."

"Why do we have to wait till night time?" Naruto asked.

"its pretty obvios," Sasuke answered for Sakura, "An assassin will find his target much more easy to assassiniate when it is night time."

"That's boring..." Naruto groaned but his team mates were used to that and they knew that it meant he agreed with the plan but was against it.

The three Gennins started their search for an inn while at the same time surveying the buildings in the village. Although this was considered a minor village in the Fire country, it was pretty huge compared to the other small village that they have been to. Sakura felt strange though. For a second there, she felt an enormous amount of chakra around her and it was not from Naruto. However, she merely ignored it because it was merely a second that presence was felt.

Sasuke could not shake the feeling that he was being watched. Being a ninja, he knew that if it was a normal assassin, Sasuke would have spotted him. The only logical explanation Sasuke could think of is that either he was just being too caution or if they were being watched, it was definitely a ninja and not some mere assassin.

"There, that inn looks good enough for us to stay for the night." Naruto said, pointing at an inn.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at the inn and from the looks of it; it was an average kind of inn, not like those five stars inn. You normally find that in large villages or tourist kind of cities. The three Gennins walked into the inn. The receptionist greeted them warmly especially since they were Konoha ninjas. After all, this small village was under the care of Konoha so it was pretty normal for Konoha ninjas to use this inn as a resting point.

"Welcome," The woman behind the desk greeted, smiling warmly, "And how many rooms would you like?"

"Two rooms, please." Sakura answered.

"What?" Naruto interjected, "We don't need two rooms. The last Maki-sensei and we went on a mission, we all shared a room and Ino was with us too at that time."

"Well, unlike my uncle," Sakura replied, glaring at Naruto, "I don't trust the two of you without him present."

"May I suggest you get an adjoining room?" The receptionist suggested.

After a few minutes of arguements between the three Gennins, they finally agreed to take up the adjoining room and since Sasuke had the most amount of money with him, he paid half the price of the room while the other half, Naruto and Sakura paid the other half.

"Alright then," Sakura said as she unlocked the door to her room, "Let's rest up, prepare ourselves properly and then we can begin our investigation."

The two boys nodded and headed to the next room, opening it. The room was decent enough, with two single beds and a window that revealed the outside of the village. Despite leving close to the busy street, there was no sound entering the room. The room probably had thick walls or something.

"So dobe," Sasuke said as he placed his belongings on a table, "You ready for our first mission without sensei?"

Naruto clenched his fist excitedly, "You bet I am! I'm going to prove to that new busty Hokage that I'm going to be taking over her position in a few months time!"

"As if. You can't even beat me yet."

"Shut up!"

Sakura sighed in frustration as she listened to Sasuke and Naruto getting into another arguement. Honestly, how the hell had her uncle managed to control them when on a mission?

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In the north-east of Konoha inside a cave, dead bodies were laid all over the place. Weapons such as swords, knives, kunais and shurikens were sprawled all over and there were blood on the walls and the ground. One would think that a slaughter had occured here and in a way, it had.

Haruno Maki walked slowly to the cowering Grass Jounin who laid there, battered and wounded badly by a deep cut on his chest and several burnt marks on his right shoulder and left arm. The Grass Jounin was gasping for air as he slowly backed away from Maki. The Grass Jounin could have tried to fight Maki off, but right now, he was looking at all five of them and he didn't know which the real one was.

It was just about eight minutes ago when his loyal bandits had informed him that a Konoha ninja had arrived to stop them. The next thing he saw was about ten ninjas with the same features slaughtering his men. Some of the bandits were able to injure the Konoha ninja but they were all clones. And twice the unknown ninja threw a kunai at a bandit, a new clone was created.

When the Grass Jounin entered the battle, all of his men were already injured or dead. He fought the Konoha ninja and his clones but unlike other ninjas that have used the shadow clones, this person knew how to use them, snychornising them with his attacks and defense. Twice the Grass Jounin thought he defeated the real one but it was a clone and the finishing blow was when the real ninja appeared from behind, gave a major cut on his chest and a clone appeared. And from there was how he received the burnt, his left arm had fully received a fire technique.

"Who the hell are you?" The Grass Jounin yelled, clutching his injured left arm.

"I shouldn't worry about that if I were you," Maki replied coldly as he and his clones took a step closer, each wielding a kunai, "I should be worrying about my own life if I am in you situation."

The Grass Jounin growled as he looked around, trying to find an opening. The Grass Jounin already knew who the ninja was. Who else in the lands used shadow clones at such skill anyway? However, the Grass Jounin needed to buy some time as he gathered chakra into his body. Finally, he had enough time.

The Grass Jounin grinned, "Heh, you fool! I've prepared for this sort of situation!"

The Grass Jounin made a single seal and yelled, "Ties of land technique!"

In an instant, the Grass Jounin disappeared without leaving a trace. The technique that Maki heard was a technique that only Grass ninjas knew. It was a technique only taught in the Grass village and from what Maki heard, in order for the technique to work, you need to place a seal on a location and you can easily use that seal to transport you there, but at the price of a huge amount of chakra. This techique was created to escape situations such as the Grass Jounin faced earlier.

The Grass Jounin was now outside the cave facing the entrance. The Grass Jounin laughed as he was prepared to make his escape. However, Maki had also anticipated this and had left his one of his custom kunai on the ground. From the inside of the cave, Maki formed a seal and said to himself.

"Release!"

The Grass Jounin heard a puff of smoke above him from a tree branch and when he looked up, the last thing he saw on his life was a figure plunging a metallic object into his skull. Maki dispelled his clones and slowly made his way out of the cave. Maki was satisfied that none of the bandits had survived his onslaught and also he had not had to go through the trouble of sparing a missing-nin's life. It would have been so troublesome for him.

Maki touched the pouch that carried his custom kunai's and he still had thirteen of them, only using once in the mission inside the cave. Maki sighed. It was not even worth the rank of an A-rank mission just because some of the bandits were trained in using Ninjutsu did not mean they knew how to use them.

"Maki!" A voice called from above.

Maki looked up to find a silver haired Jounin looking down at him and another elite Jounin next to him, "Yo, Kakashi! What are...?"

"We have to go to the north village!" Kakashi said, his voice filled with urgency, "Jiraiya-sama reported that there are two of them where Naruto and his team are!"

"The two of them?" Maki asked, wondering what Kakashi meant. The mission that Naruto received that ordered them to go to the north village was not far from where they were, but why?

"The Akatsuki!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame ignored the stares as they continued walking in the busy streets of the village. After all, it was not everyday you see two men dressed in strange clothing such as them. Itachi once more activated his Sharingan as they slowly neared the source of the chakra that they were ordered to investigate.

"Itachi," Kisame spoke out, "I'm sure you can tell?"

Itachi nodded, "There are three of them. Out of the three, one has an extremely large amount of chakra, nearly the same amount as you."

"Since you're a former nin of Konoha, any ideas?"

"I recognised one of them and I have a faint idea of who the one with large chakra might have." Itachi replied as they turned around a corner.

"So who are they?" Kisame asked, feeling the urge to fight.

"Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan I can tell. He was an ANBU after all, so I remember his chakra. And the one with the large chakra, from what I remember, the only ninja at that time with such a large amount of chakra was Maki."

Kisame was interested immediately, "Oh, this is interesting. Two famed ninjas of Konoha coming after us. What do you plan to do?"

"Obviously, the third companion coming at us must at least be a Jounin." Itachi said and he turned to look at Kisame, "Since you have that bloodlust of yours to settle, I would suggest you intercept them while I continue with the operation."

Kisame grinned, "Good. It's no fun threatening a bunch of twelve year old Gennins anyway!"

With that, Kisame jumped up on a rooftop and started to make his way to intercept the oncoming ninjas. Although they were a distance away, Itachi had no plans in allowing his mission to be interrupted by a bunch of Konoha ninjas. Itachi knew either he or Kisame could easily battle the three ninjas; Itachi would be at a slight disadvantage since Kakashi knew how the Sharingan worked and could have informed his team. Kisame was suited to intercept them.

"Now, where are you? Uzumaki Naruto..." Itachi said as he walked inside an inn.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sakura-chan, we should really get going now." Naruto said as he knocked on the door. They were supposed to have investigated the village three minutes ago.

"Alright, let me get my tools." Sakura replied from the other side of the door.

Naruto sighed and watched as Sasuke played with his kunai. Naruto couldn't place it, but Sasuke seemed to be in fear. His body was trembling a little and Naruto knew that Sasuke was deep in thought about something.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I don't know, but it's just that I feel some familiar chakra very close by. I..."

Just then, a knock on the door was heard and it startled Sasuke, much to his surprise. Naruto walked to the boor and as he placed his hand on the doorknob, he took one last glance at Sasuke with a worried expression. It was not like Sasuke to show this much fear in him. He was after all from a proud ninja clan. Even when Sasuke was in the middle of chaos in the Konoha invasion, he was calm.

Naruto opened the door to find a man looking down at him, his eyes red, "I have found you, Uzumaki Naruto..." The man said softly.

Naruto looked up at the man, staring deep into the eyes of the Sharingan, not moving a single muscle in his body.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maki, Kakashi and another elite Jounin continued jumping from tree branch to tree branch at record speed, using chakra sprint to quicken their pace. They neared the village and just as they were about to jump to the next branch, a wave of water appeared from the left, catching the three Jounin's by surprise. Maki jumped up to a higher tree branch while Kakashi hid behind a bark. The third Jounin was not so lucky as the wave of water smashed on the Jounin's chest, throwing the Jounin a mile away.

"I know you're there, Konoha brats!" Kisame called out, grinning madly.

Kakashi took a peek from his hiding spot and spotted Kisame. Kakashi looked at Maki and Maki nodded from above. Maki took out a custom kunai and threw it at Kisame. For the first time since joining Akatsuki, Kisame was surprised by the sheer speed the kunai was thrown and had to use his large blade to deflect the kunai. Kisame looked at the unique kunai, surprised that the wielder could throw it at such speed that Kisame barely saw it coming.

"Release!"

From where the custom kunai was, a clone was created. Kisame was once again caught in surprise as the clone tried to slice Kisame's neck but the missing-nin was no amateur and easily blocked the attempt with his sword and returned a kick which dispelled the clone.

Kisame looked at the person standing in front of him, "You're pretty brave to want to face me in a one-on-one combat."

"I see you noticed our plan?" Maki asked, smiling.

"Let him go," Kisame replied as he felt Kakashi's chakra moving to the village, "It's not like Itachi can't handle him."

Maki took out a brand new kunai as he faced the blue-skinned ninja. Maki knew about Kisame's reputation and knew that Kisame was far stronger than him, but he had to try. Maki also knew he was at a disadvantage since Maki was a fire element user while Kisame was a water type.

"Haruno Maki, the replicator eh?" Kisame said as he got into an attacking stance, "I will enjoy shaving your skin off!"


	42. Konoha Jounin's vs Akatsuki

**Alright guys, here is the update for the new chapter. Honestly, I've been getting so lazy now a days, but I try to write what I can. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review.**

**Next chapter, "Return to Konoha"**

CHAPTER 42: KONOHA JOUNIN'S VS AKATSUKI

A Chuunin ran in the hallway of the Hokage tower as she hurried to find the Hokage. She never thought that she would be honoured to meet that legendary ninja in all of her life but that was what happened five minutes ago. Well, actually, she never really met him; it was just an accomplice of the said, legendary ninja. She had to hurry since the message was of great importance and the Hokage should be informed about this.

The Chuunin burst into the mission hall, panting lightly. Tsunade was surprised by the entrance of this unknown ninja and was not amused. She was about to read out the mission details to a team of Jounins until this woman, around her late twenties, interrupted her. The other ninjas in the mission hall stared at the Konoha Chuunin.

"Hokage-sama," The Konoha Chuunin said, running to towards Tsunade, "We have a problem!"

This caught Tsunade's attention, at least by a little, "What is it? I'm quite busy at the moment..."

"I was decoding messages that we received from foreign countries to hire Konoha ninjas when a messenger toad appeared, Hokage-sama," The woman continued, "The toad was from Jiraiya-sama and the toad ordered me to report to you immediately."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "Jiraiya sent me a message? What is it, girl?"

"It said something about two members of 'Akatsuki' has been spotted in a village north of here and one of our Gennin team are currently there right now."

The report was a shock to Tsunade as she stood up quickly, pushing the chair she was sitting on back in the process, "What?!"

"That's what is says, Hokage-sama." The Chuunin replied, surprised to see the new Hokage act this way from such a report.

Everyone in the mission hall glared at Tsunade, not knowing the significance of the message. Of course, since Jiraiya had only told a few of his trusted comrades about the Akatsuki, none of the ninjas or even the council knew about this. The Akatsuki were not very active yet so it was no surprise that none knew of their existence.

"Alright, you three," Tsunade said to the three Jounins she was about to assign a mission to, "I want you three to head to the ANBU headquarters and immediately get three ANBU squads to report to me, immediately!"

The three Jounins quickly sprinted off to their destination after hearing the authority in Tsunade's voice. Tsunade clenched her fists, wondering why the organisation that Jiraiya had warned her about had appeared. She was just a Hokage for a few days and this had to occur. The female Konoha Chuunin stood there, awaiting Tsunade's response.

"Tsunade," One of the senior council started, "What the hell is going on? What is this 'Akatsuki?'?"

"Nothing important, now let's just continue with the other team of..." Tsunade replied, trying to change the subject but the council members obviously had not bought it.

"Then explain to me why you would need three ANBU squads to report to you?"

Tsunade felt she was trapped. She glared at the council angrily but she felt she had no choice but to explain to the council in order to reinforce Naruto's team. Jiraiya had told her not to tell the damned council but she felt that she had no choice. It was better than just allowing the Akatsuki to kidnap Naruto.

Naruto wandered around aimlessly in the unknown land, ignoring the black ravens fluttering around him, the ravens with red eyes. Naruto ignored the rain hitting on his head as he wandered around, looking at the strange mountains so far away. Naruto noticed that this place was not normal and then suddenly, a raven spoke.

"Uzumaki Naruto," The raven said, landing on Naruto's right shoulder, "You're surprisingly quite weak when it comes to the genjutsu field. How disappointing."

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto spoke out. Naruto also noticed that the raven on his shoulder was surprisingly heavy and he could not move from where he was standing.

Before the raven could reply, Naruto was brought out of the genjutsu. Naruto was startled and looked around his surroundings. He was back at the inn and the man before him earlier was gone. Naruto heard someone yelling from the corridor and took a peek. The man was still there, and Sasuke was confronting him.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Sasuke demanded, his sharingan activated.

Itachi stared down at his brother, "Sasuke... Do not get in the way of my work."

Sasuke ignored his older brother's warning and charged forward to attack his own flesh and blood. Sasuke remembered all the nightmares he had to go through and the loneliness of living in the Uchiha compound. Sasuke had all of his anger in his fist and delivered his first attack, only for Itachi to block it with the palm of his hand without any effort.

"Your moves are too predictable." Itachi exclaimed and with that, kicked Sasuke in the gut. Sasuke flew ten metres back, landing right at Naruto's feet. Sasuke groaned in pain and felt a small amount of blood dribble down his chin. For Sasuke, this was a blow to his ego to be hurt so badly by just a kick.

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled and ran towards Itachi, forming seals as he ran. With the Sharingan, Itachi could easily predict Naruto's seals and saw that Naruto was using a Wind technique. Itachi smirked, knowing that a Fire technique would easily defeat a Wind technique and what's more, even increase the power of the Fire technique. Itachi started forming seals also at incredible speed.

"Wind release! Air bullet!"

"Fire release! Royal wave technique!"

Itachi only used about ten percent of his chakra in this technique. After all, he just wanted to test out Naruto's abilities. Itachi's flame grew in size due to Naruto's technique and Naruto watched in shock as his technique was countered that easily. Naruto was familiar with this technique. The bullet-shaped flame was accompanied by blazing hot fire at it's side and is nearly impossible to avoid it.

"Idiot!"

Sasuke stepped forward and took out a scroll and opened it. Itachi's technique was absorbed by the scroll but unfortunately, a scroll can only hold up to a certain amount of chakra. The scroll burnt and some of it burnt Sasuke's hands. Sasuke grunted in pain, his hands now black from the burns.

"Sasuke, you alright?" Naruto asked, worried.

"I'll live," Sasuke replied, looking at his older brother, "What the hell do you want from us?"

Itachi did not reply and continued glaring at the two Gennin. In his opinion, Naruto seemed to be careless and was not very good when it comes to a person countering his attack. Sasuke was more alert but that was probably thanks to the Sharingan. The two Gennins were weak in his opinion.

"Who the hell is he?" Naruto asked.

"He's my brother..." Sasuke muttered, clenching his fists in anger.

"Your brother?!" Naruto gasped, looking at Itachi, "The one that slaughtered your family?"

Sasuke nodded and the two male Gennin stood their ground, staring at the ex-Konoha ninja. Naruto and Sasuke flinched when Itachi made a move to fetch an item from his pouch hidden under the Akatsuki suit. Itachi revealed a kunai and Naruto and Sasuke immediately were on guard.

"I have tested you on Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu, Naruto..." Itachi said, "Now, let's test you in the Taijutsu field."

With that, Itachi chakra sprinted towards Naruto. Naruto was surprised by the sheer speed of Itachi and barely made it on time to dodge the attack by ducking the attack. Naruto could feel a few strands of his hair cut by Itachi. Sasuke screamed in anger as he counter-attacked Itachi, nearly stabbing Itachi but Itachi easily jumped a few metres back. Itachi was about to charge once more when Itachi realised he was no longer in the inn.

"Petals?" Itachi spoke to himself, looking around his surroudings, "Ah, this must be a Genjutsu."

Itachi was impressed to be caught off guard especially since Itachi himself was extremely talented in the Genjutsu field. As a matter of fact, Itachi preferred to engage his opponents in Genjutsu and would only resort to other tactics if it failed. For Itachi to be caught in a Genjutsu, that was impressive.

"Release!"

With the Genjutsu cancelled out, Itachi was brought back to the real world. However, the two Gennins were gone, and the female Gennin with them were with them from the feel of their Chakras. Itachi concluded that it must have been that darned pink haired girl that casted the Genjutsu. Itachi started the chase, his Sharingan activated the whole time.

"Fuck!"

Maki was almost slashed from behind by Kisame but luckily for him, a clone stepped in and took the attack instead. Kisame cursed in annoyance and had to use his large blade to block Maki's counter-attack. Kisame had nearly killed Maki off three times, but twice Kisame got confused between the clone and the original and the third, Maki used the clone to take the hit for him. Kisame blocked another attempt on his neck and this time, grabbed Maki by his Jounin vest and delivered a roundhouse kick on Maki's gut, sending him crashing far on a tree bark.

Maki coughed out blood from the impact and looked at Kisame. The way things were going; Maki would not be able to last with this unstoppable ninja. Kisame's chakra was at the same amount of Maki, but Kisame's stamina was on a whole new level. All of Maki's attacks were easily countered by Kisame and all of Maki's attempts of using his custom kunai's trick were easily foiled. Kisame must be aware of Maki's ability to create a clone from his kunai.

"You disappoint me, Haruno Maki," Kisame taunted, "I have heard from the rumours that you are a talented ninja but so far, all you've proven to me is that you're an idiot ninja."

"Confident, aren't you? Shark-face!" Maki countered as he stood up on wobbly legs, brandishing a brand new custom kunai. He only had six left though and facing an S-rank missing-ninja, Maki was going to need more than six.

Suddenly, from above Kisame, a clone of Maki appeared from a tree branch with a kunai in hand. Kisame felt the clone's presence and turned around. Kisame side-stepped to his left at the nick of time and did it with ease as the clone plunged the kunai into the ground. Kisame raised Samehada and swung it vertically but the clone managed to block it with his kunai. Kisame smirked and using sheer strength, broke the kunai and the Samehada destroyed the clone.

"Fire release! Canyon blast technique!"

Maki blew his technique to the ground and the fire went straight at Kisame. A line of fire was formed and from that line, about every three meters, fire keeps bursting out of the line of fire, like a volcano. Kisame recognised this technique and wondered why Maki would use it. This technique, though devastating, was best used against a number of ninjas and not one. This was because this technique could easily be avoided but when used against a number of ninjas, there was a chance that some might get hit.

Kisame formed seven seals, "Water release! Cleanse!"

Kisame spat out a large amount of water to the ground and the water spread around the area quickly. This technique does not do any damage and used merely to wet the ground but it was useful to dispel Maki's fire technique. Kisame smirked as he watched Maki's technique cancelled out until a shadow from above loomed over him.

"Fire release! Great dragon release technique!"

Maki released a large amount of chakra in this technique so the dragon was large and even from a distance, Kisame could feel the heat radiating from it. Kisame started forming his own seals to counter this technique. Kisame wondered why Maki even bothered using techniques to fight him when Kisame can easily counter him.

"Water release! Water dragon technique!"

The two techniques cancelled each other out but that was what Maki planned. With the steam that was created due to the two techniques, it gave Maki a small opening against Kisame. Maki landed Kisame's left and took out a custom kunai. Kisame turned to his right a little too slow as Maki finally slashed Kisame's right shoulder. It was not much, but it was that Maki needed. Kisame cursed not from the pain but from his stupidity.

The clone appeared but was instantly dispelled by Kisame's Samehada. Maki found another opening and gave a blow to Kisame's right cheek but Kisame stood his ground and grabbing Maki, he delivered his fist to Maki's gut and was ready to deliver the killing blow but Maki quickly created a shadow clone and the clone gave a kick to Kisame's chest. Kisame released Maki but not before he shaved a little of Maki's left shoulder, blood spilling on the pink haired Jounin's shirt. Maki clenched his wound, feeling the pain.

Kisame touched the wound that Maki inflicted earlier on, "Not bad, for you to actually slice my shoulder," Kisame finally unveiled the bandages of his blade, "But now, let me see you getting your skin shaved by me!"

Maki grunted in pain and knew that if this continues on, he would die in the hands of Kisame. He was not ready to face the Akatsuki yet and knew that he will have to strike Kisame enough to make him retreat. Maki sighed and started forming seals. Finally, Maki gathered chakra to his right arm and when he was done; his right arm was engulfed in red flames.

"Fire lance!"

Kisame narrowed his eyes, not recognising the technique. As Maki charged forward, Kisame was taken by surprise that a clone suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Kisame thought there were no clones and he knew that this 'replicator' was full of surprises. Kisame easily destroyed the clone but that was all a diversion. Maki leaped into the air with his right arm charged for the blow. Kisame watched in horror as Maki's 'fire lance' strikes.

The three Gennins continued their run to escape from their pursuer. Although they could no longer see where Itachi was, they knew that it would be best to not stop. The three were now out of the village and were in the woods, not following the normal pathway. Naruto finally stopped beneath a tree.

"What the hell does he want?" Naruto exclaimed, "We have a mission to complete!"

"You idiot," Sakura replied, panting, "It's obvious that it was a trap! There is no assassin in the village and that guy is obviously after you, Naruto-kun!"

"Why me?!"

"Knowing my brother," Sasuke said, "He wouldn't to through all that trouble without a goal. You must have something that interests him!"

Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to find his brother's chakra presence. Surprisingly, he could not sense it and for Itachi to give up chase was unlike him. Sasuke looked at his team mates and knew that even if all three of them attacked Itachi together, it would be impossible to beat him. Itachi was on a whole new level.

Sakura sat down on the grass with her back on the bark of the tree. Itachi could have destroyed Sasuke and Naruto earlier at the inn if Sakura had not casted the genjutsu on Itachi. However, Sakura was surprised that Itachi easily realised he was in a genjutsu in just two seconds. That was her strongest and most concealing genjutsu ever. It took Temari nearly two minutes for her to dispel the genjutsu when she used it on her in the invasion.

"We should go," Sasuke said suddenly, "Itachi could be nearby."

At that precise moment, Itachi appeared before them with a kunai still in hand. Sasuke cursed and Naruto and Sakura were on their guard. For Itachi to have found them so quickly, they knew they could not escape him again. It looks like they will have to fight for their lives.

"Do not interfere," Itachi warned, "I just want to test out Uzumaki Naruto..."

"If you think you can just ignore me, then you're mistaken!" Sasuke yelled, "You slaughtered my family! You gave me hell to go through and now, I'm going to send you to hell!"

Sasuke started forming seals and then gathered chakra to his right palm. Itachi observed the technique and he remembered seeing those familiar set of seals when he was in the ANBU.

"Chidori!"

Before Naruto or Sakura could even stop Sasuke, he had charged straight ahead towards Itachi. Itachi decided to end all of this interference and when Sasuke neared him, Itachi easily grabbed Sasuke by the wrist, stopping Sasuke's attack. Sasuke grunted in anger as his chidori slowly disappeared. Sasuke had not yet truly mastered the technique and could not hold it for long.

"You're still weak Sasuke," Itachi said coldly as he took out a kunai with his free hand, the other hand still holding onto Sasuke, "Such weakness is an embarassment even to our dead family. Let me end their humiliation."

Sasuke watched in horror as Itachi prepared to finish Sasuke off when suddenly, a figure emerged from behind Itachi. Itachi noticed it of course and turned to face the new-comer, releasing Sasuke. The new-comer attempted to slice Itachi off with his kunai but Itachi jumped high onto a tree branch. Sasuke was grabbed by his rescuer and returned Sasuke with his team mates.

"Hatake Kakashi," Itachi said, standing on the tree branch, "It's been too long."

"Uchiha Itachi," Kakashi looked up at Itachi, the two Sharingan eyes meeting one another, "What the hell are you doing here after five years?"

"I have a job to do," Itachi replied, looking at Naruto, "One that only concerns him and not the rest of you."

"So, you're after it, aren't you?"

Itachi had a surprised look on his face, "How is it that you're aware of our objectives?" Itachi jumped down to the ground, "No matter, I'll make sure to get rid of you, Kakashi-san."

With incredible speed, Itachi took out three shurikens and tossed it towards Kakashi. Even with the Sharingan, Kakashi barely avoided it and he countered by throwing a couple of kunai's. Itachi blocked them all with his kunai as he charged forward. Kakashi also charged and the two attacked resulting in their kunai's hitting one another, the sound of metal against metal echoing throughout the woods.

"For a non-Uchiha, your use of the Sharingan can be compared to that of an Uchiha." Itachi commented, "But you're no match a true Uchiha."

Kakashi was taken by surprise when two other Itachi's appeared from both his sides. At that moment, Kakashi realised that Itachi had created shadow clones and Kakashi had not even realised it. Kakashi quickly backed away but the clones were able to slash Kakashi's right forearm and another on his chest, blood seeping on his uniform.

Naruto watched as Itachi easily fights Kakashi, who was said to be on par with Maki. Naruto knew that Itachi was now giving Kakashi no mercy and Itachi was merely toying with them earlier on. His two team mates were shaking with fear, especially Sakura. Naruto looked at Kakashi as Itachi forced the copy ninja to be on the defensive once more.

"Lightning release! Fingers of destruction technique!"

Kakashi opened the palm of his right and from his fingertips, bolt of lightning were released from each of his fingers. The two clones of Itachi were easily destroyed by Kakashi's technique but the real Itachi was no where on sight. Out of nowhere, Itachi suddenly appeared right in front of Kakashi and without any moment of hesitation, stabbed Kakashi with his kunai. A few seconds later, the Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke only to be replaced with a log.

"Replacement technique?" Itachi muttered, "Where is he then?"

Suddenly, from beneath the earth, Kakashi's arm emerged, grabbing Itachi by his left food, "Earth release! Inner decapitation technique!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes and before Kakashi could even pull Itachi, Itachi sliced Kakashi's arm off with incredible speed that even the Sharingan could not follow. However, it was a shadow clone and Itachi looked at the real Kakashi who was standing in front of him, fifteen metres seperating the two.

"It is time I finsih the fight with you," Itachi said seriously, "I have precious time that I do not wish to waste."

Kakashi knew that Itachi could finish him off easily if he was serious. Kakashi could only last a few minutes before Itachi would have found an opening so Kakashi was hoping to buy some time until the reinforcements from Konoha arrive. Kakashi had summoned Pakkun to order for reinforcements earlier on and he hoped that they would make it on time or else, he and Naruto would be gone by then.

"Confident, aren't you? I was your senpai so if you think you can beat me so easily, you're mistaken." Kakashi replied, hoping to get a reply and buy some time.

Itachi actually chuckled, "Let me show you a technique that only true Uchiha's can possess."

Kakashi stood his ground and got into a defensive stance. Kakashi already had a few techniques in his mind that he could use to put up a strong defence against Itachi's speed. However, Itachi made no move for a few seconds and then, finally, Itachi took a step forward. Kakashi noticed a slight change in Itachi's eyes. His sharingan were definitely different.

"Let me show you the powers of the Mangekyou Sharingan!"

"Interesting," Kisame said in admiration, "The chakra in your technique seems to have pleased Samehada."

Maki was panting as he watched Kisame's blade actually had a mouth. Maki had never seen such a sword that could actually eat his chakra. Earlier on, Maki's 'fire lance' nearly hit the target but Kisame at the last minute, used his blade to block the technique. Maki also had planned on that happening and hoped to destroy the blade with his technique but surprisingly, the blade had somehow 'devoured' Maki's fire technique. Now Maki only had half of his chakra left and even though that was a lot, it will be used quickly since Kisame was on a different level.

"I must say that now, you live up to my expectations," Kisame said, "For you to excite Samehada this much, this had not happened since I fought that bloody Mizukage!"

Maki would not last long against Kisame. It seems that all his tricks with his shadow clones were easily countered by Kisame, even the tricks with his custom kunai. With his power of confusion gone, how could he last? Maki took out his last custom kunai since the others were easily destroyed by Kisame's large blade.

"DIE!"

Kisame charged forward and Maki prepared for the worst. Kisame swung his blade powerfully and quickly and Maki ducked on time. Kisame gave no opportunity to think of a counter-attack as Kisame kicked Maki hard in the chest, sending Maki trashing backwards on the ground. Kisame charged and slammed his blade on the ground as Maki rolled to his right, feeling the vibrations from the blade. However, Kisame was quick.

Kisame placed his foot hard on Maki's chest, preventing his escape. Maki watched in horror as Kisame raised his blade high into the air, his eyes filled with killing intent. Maki could see his life flashing before him.

"Say goodbye, Konoha brat!"

Sasuke watched his personal sensei fall face-first to the ground, uncounscious. Sasuke realised that Itachi must have done the same thing to Kakashi just like Itachi did to him before he left the village. The pain of suffering through 24 hours of genjutsu was destructive to the mind.

"Now," Itachi said calmly, "I will have no more interference..."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that!" A voice called from above.

Itachi and the three Gennins looked up to find another new-comer. Itachi narrowed his eyes, recognising the man. He was not going to be an easy person to beat and Itachi had just used Tsukiyomi. His eyes and chakra were tired.

"Now, let's see what you've got to take on the great gallant, Jiraiya!" Jiraiya said as he jumped down, facing the elite Uchiha.


	43. Return to Konoha

**Alright guys, here's the new update. Nothing much to say but I DO WANT TO SAY THIS! I am so DISAPPOINTED at the death of Kisame in the latest chapter. It was a quick death and the most pathetic death of all the Akatsuki members. Since the beginning, Kisame one of the first Akatsuki's to be introduced and I always wanted to see how he would be like injured and bleeding(Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu etc) all of these akatsuki put up a fight before they died but Kisame died JUST LIKE THAT!**

**Anyway, sorry for the rant. Next chapter, "Haruno Hanaki's legacy"**

CHAPTER 43: RETURN TO KONOHA

Uchiha Itachi looked at the legendary 'Toad Sannin' and he knew at that moment that testing out Naruto would be out of the question. He was going against a ninja that was his level or perhaps far stronger than him but Itachi should be able to handle him. After all, if he had to make his escape, he could use his Mangekyou Sharingan, and there were two more levels of use other than Tsukiyomi.

Jiraiya analysed Itachi from where he stood and from the way Itachi looked, he was a ninja that brimmed with confidence despite facing an opponent like Jiraiya. Jiraiya looked at Kakashi's uncounscious form and he knew he should retreat with the Jounin, but he had to make sure Itachi was not after Naruto, so to do that, he had to beat Itachi first. Itachi's eyes showed no fear at all.

"Naruto," Jiraiya said without taking his eyes off Itachi, "You and your friends, get out of here. I'll take care of him."

"But..."

"Do it! That's an order!" Jiraiya ordered with authority.

Naruto looked at the perverted sannin and then sprinted off, followed by his team mates. Sasuke wanted to stay, but he'd rather save his life. He knew that he could not face Sasuke, not at his current state. He needed to train harder before he would even think of facing Itachi.

"Where is your partner?" Jiraiya asked.

"He's dealing with another Konoha Jounin at the moment, not that it will be a problem for him." Itachi answered and with incredible speed, threw three shurikens at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was able to avoid them by rolling to his right, "Fire release! Fire dragon missile!"

Itachi was taken by surprise that Jiraiya used a technique without even using seals. This was rare and only works for few techniques. Itachi dodged it but due to the close distance, Itachi's cloak was burnt a little. Itachi sprinted towards Jiraiya and when he reached the toad ninja, Itachi revealed a kunai. Jiraiya ducked as Itachi's attack swung above him. Jiraiya grabbed Itachi both of his feet and tossed him towards a tree. Itachi turned in mid-air and landed on the bark of the tree with his feet, sending chakra to his feet to stay on the tree.

Jiraiya formed a seal, "Wild lion mane's technique!"

Jiraiya's hair grew and went towards Itachi. Itachi was beginning to feel frustrated to be put on the defensive as he jumped off the tree on time. Jiraiya cancelled the technique as he blocked a fist by Itachi. Itachi continued the pressure, sending fists left and right. Jiraiya tried to counter-attack but with Itachi's sharingan, that was not going to happen. Finally, Itachi was able to hit Jiraiya on his left cheek and taking the opportunity, kicked Jiraiya square in the chest. Jiraiya was sent flying back but he refused to fall, still on his feet.

Itachi finished five set of seals in a manner of a second, "Fire release! Great fireball technique!"

Jiraiya was impressed at the sheer size of the fireball. He knew that all Uchiha's were proficient with the fire techniques but Jiraiya was facing a fireball with the size of twenty-five metres in diameter. Thinking quickly, Jiraiya bit his thumb and quickly completed the five seals he needed.

"Summoning technique!"

A toad the size of a small cottage appeared and opened its palm, and much to Itachi's surprise, consumed the flames. Itachi narrowed his eyes and concluded that the toad must be some sort of defensive toad, consuming chakra. Jiraiya jumped on top of the toad, forming another set of seals.

"Give me some oil!"

The toad nodded and from where Itachi stood, he could hear some grumbling noises coming from the toad's stomach. The toad took a deep breath and then spat out a large amount of brown oil. Jiraiya followed, but used a fire technique.

"Fire release! Toad oil flame bullet!"

Itachi jumped high to a tree branch, barely avoiding the fire. Itachi was surprised by the speed of the flame and even with the sharingan, he barely avoided it. Itachi expected this, facing one of the legendary sannin after all. Unlike Orochimaru, Jiraiya was more careful but perhaps this was what he should do to defeat Jiraiya. He needed to trap Jiraiya in a genjutsu.

However, Itachi was taken out of his thoughts when Jiraiya appeared right in front of him and delivered a kick right on Itachi's face. The kick was surprisingly strong, Itachi smashing on the bark of a tree. The kick also blinded Itachi's right eye, but it would only be temporarily. Itachi clutched his right eye as he scanned up at Jiraiya.

"I won't let you escape," Jiraiya said, "You're mine now!"

Itachi looked at the toad to his right and then at Jiraiya. Itachi closed his left eye and started concentrating chakra to it. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes and his Mangekyou sharingan was once again awakened. Jiraiya noticed the change and seeing how serious Itachi looked, he knew he had to be careful. Now he had to fight both Jiraiya and that large toad, so awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan was a logic thing to do. However, Itachi would not be able to hold these set of eyes for so long. Itachi then created a shadow clone.

"Now, let's get serious..." Itachi said and a second, appeared right in front of Jiraiya.

Jiraiya barely avoided the kunai, nearly slashing his neck. Jiraiya jumped down from the tree but Itachi was already there and he was forced to use his hands to block the kick. Jiraiya jumped away and threw several shurikens but Itachi blocked them all with his kunai. Jiraiya was so caught up with the now powered-up Itachi that he never noticed that the clone had already diappeared.

**At Konoha...**

Tsunade walked tiredly in the corridor, ignoring the worried looks from the nurses and medic-nin. She had to tell the whole council members about the organisation and she had to admit, it was fun watching the stupid old farts expressions when they heard that their nine-tailed host was targeted. Despite not treating Naruto right, they wanted him in Konoha because he holds the demon within him. They just saw him as a powerful weapon and nothing more. Tsunade hated those people, especially that Danzou.

Tsunade opened the door and entered the room, looking at the patient resting peacefully. He was lucky to be still alive after that fight two months ago. Tsunade checked all the equipment and read his health status. He was doing fine and should be able to leave in a couple of month's time. It would have been sooner but his old body was not as strong.

The old man's eyes felt Tsunade's presence and his eyes fluttered open, "Tsunade..." He said weakly.

"It's good to see you, old man..." Tsunade replied, smiling at him.

Even though Tsunade arrived two months ago, this was the first time she spoke with her old teacher. Sarutobi was always sleeping so she never got to talk to him. Sarutobi knew that Tsunade was the one that saved him and was lucky she arrived. He was about to use the forbidden technique the fourth Hokage used but decided against it when he saw Tsunade and a other Konoha ninjas coming to back him up.

"I must admit," Sarutobi said, "I'm really happy that you're back in Konoha. It's been far too long since I saw you."

"Years, old man," Tsunade replied.

The two looked at each other in silence. There was a reason Tsunade came here and she wanted to talk to him about it, but she didn't know how to start. After all, Jiraiya told her that it would be best if Sarutobi did not know about this, but it was time Tsunade took the old man from the dark and keep him up to date.

"So, what is it you want to tell me?" Sarutobi spoke out.

"What makes you think I came here to tell you something? It could just be a visit."

Sarutobi chuckled, "I'm not your teacher for nothing. I know that expression. Tell me..."

"It concerns Naruto..." Tsunade started.

**With Naruto...**

The three Gennin finally reached a clearing with a lake in front of them. The three were exhausted from running and they needed a moment to catch their breath. Sakura walked to the lake and took a few gulps of water. This was still within Konoha territory so she was familiar with this lake and it was okay to drink from here, nothing contagious about it. As a matter of fact, Sakura remembered that when she was young, her uncle and her mom once brought her here for a picnic.

Naruto rubbed his face from the sweat rolling down his face. He had been running for the last twenty minutes and before that, they travelled all the way from Konoha to that village. They are all just Gennins anyway so their stamina weren't that high yet. Naruto looked around the area. From where they were, they could see the large mountains in the distance and despite their situation, this was beautiful scenery.

"We have to keep going." Naruto said after a three minutes rest.

"What?" Sakura whined, "I need a few more minutes."

"We cannot stay in one spot," Naruto tried to reason, "That guy is too strong for us. If he catches up with us, we're dead meat."

"He's right," Sasuke agreed, "Itachi is someone that we cannot beat even with the three of us. Let's keep moving."

Sakura nodded her head and got back to her feet. She could not argue with logic. After witnessing the defeat of the copy ninja in just two minutes, she knew that Itachi was someone not to be undesestimated. Sakura got ready to move out when she caught a glimpse of movement behind Sasuke.

"Watch out!"

Sasuke turned around and saw a kunai wrapped with an explosion tag headed right for him. Naruto jumped and grabbed Sasuke, pulling the Uchiha to the ground as the kunai sailed past him and hitting a tree. Two seconds later, the tree exploded and the three Gennins were in panic mode.

"Where is he?" Sakura yelled in panic, looking for Itachi left and right.

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke shouted back and drawing out a kunai, "Just watch each other's back. That bastard can appear out of nowhere!"

Naruto obeyed Sasuke's orders without even questioning it. Naruto was unable to believe that Itachi was able to defeat Jiraiya, the perverted sannin, so easily. From what Maki had told him when he first introduced Jiraiya, Jiraiya was most likely four times stronger than him. If Itachi could easily defeat Jiraiya, what chance did he or his friends have?

Three sets of shuriken appeared from the trees to the left of Sasuke. Sasuke, with the help of the Sharingan, barely blocked them but that was what Itachi needed. He knew that Sasuke was the only one that could at least track his movements by a little and he needed Sasuke out of the picture. With him now distracted for a second, Itachi appeared in front of Naruto.

"Change of plans," Itachi said coldly, "You're coming with me."

Before Naruto could even react, Itachi delivered a blow to Naruto's gut. Naruto felt his lungs empty of air and he nearly passed out, but he prevailed. He was on all fours and Itachi was surprised that Naruto was still counscious. He was sure that punch on a Gennin should have knocked him out. By now, Sakura and Sasuke were aware of Itachi's presence and the two threw a kunai at him. Itachi moved his neck to the right, feeling the kunai passing by.

"Fire release! Firewall technique!"

Itachi backed away the moment Sasuke spat a ball of fire where Itachi stood. Sure enough, the ball of fire suddenly burst into a wall of fire, acting as a shield between Itachi and the three Gennin.

"Sakura, you stay with Naruto," Sasuke said, taking out a brand new kunai, "I'll take care of my brother."

Before Sakura could even protest, Sasuke jumped over the wall of fire and looked into the eyes of his own brother. The two Uchiha's stared at one another, Sharingan eyes both activated. Sasuke had always dreamed of facing his brother one-on-one, to avenge his clan but Sasuke knew that he was not ready to fight Itachi. Itachi was far more powerful.

Itachi's patience grew weaker, "I'm warning you, Sasuke," Itachi cautioned, "You are not my target for now. Get out of my way."

"I swore on my life that I will kill you one day, Itachi," Sasuke said with malice in his voice, "And I intend to fulfill that oath!"

"Then let me grant you that wish."

Itachi suddenly appeared right in front of Sasuke and delivered a knee to Sasuke's gut. Sasuke gasped in pain and dropped on his knees, coughing and gasping for air. However Itachi was fed up with the interruptions and decided to finish Sasuke now. Pulling Sasuke up by the collar, Itachi delivered three punches to Sasuke's gut, each blow resulting in Sasuke coughing out blood. Itachi then released Sasuke and delivered a roundhouse kick, sending Sasuke crashing on the bark of a tree. Sasuke grunted in pain and Itachi struck once more, throwing three shurikens at Sasuke. As a last attempt to save his life, Sasuke moved his body to his right and although the shurikens missed his body, it slashed his left arm.

"That takes care of him." Itachi muttered, and turned to Naruto.

Naruto was still injured from that one blow given by Itachi and he was standing on shaky knees. Sakura, seeing the condition of Naruto, stood in front of Naruto with a kunai drawn. Itachi smirked, finding this a funny sight. What could a girl do to him? Itachi charged forward and Sakura quickly threw the kunai she was holding. Itachi moved his neck to the left as the kunai sailed past him and when he reached Sakura, he took out a kunai from his sleeve and slashed Sakura in the neck. Sakura's whole body dissolved and turned into sharp shurikens. Itachi was dumbstruck and Naruto was now a giant towering over him.

'A genjutsu again?' Itachi thought, feeling the shurikens piercing his skin, 'This girl really loves to annoy me.'

This was one of Sakura's most powerful genjutsu but Itachi dispelled it in a matter of seconds. Other ninjas would normally take a minute to figure it out that it was a genjutsu and another two minutes to try and dispel the technique. Itachi was back to where he was and Sakura was heading to Sasuke, pulling Naruto with her.

"What?!" Sakura shrieked when Itachi appeared in front of her so suddenly.

"You're in my way, brat!" Itachi said and without a moment of hesitation, chopped Sakura's left shoulder. The pain was intensifying and with Sakura wounded, Itachi grabbed Sakura by her collar and threw her across the ground as if she was a piece of garbage.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he watched Sakura groaned in pain, feeling the scrathces made on her arm.

Naruto glared back at Itachi in anger. Itachi smiled in amusement and with those two brats defeated, he can now concentrate on Naruto now.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Four Naruto clones appeared and each of them drew out a kunai. Itachi looked at all of the clones and when all four charged forward, Itachi prepared himself. After all, his mission was to just test out the nine-tailed host's abilities as a ninja. Naruto planned ahead of this and started forming seals.

"Wind release! Cannon blast technique!"

Itachi knew this wind technique. The technique's similar to 'Air bullet' but unlike that technique, this one covers a larger area so a miss was most of the time, unlikely. Itachi however, was an exceptional ninja and easily jumped into the air but that was what the Naruto clones were waiting for. All four threw a kunai but Itachi blocked them. A clone had sneaked at Itachi from behind and nearly stabbed Itachi but Itachi sliced the clone's arm and dispelled the clone in the process.

Naruto formed another set of seals, "Wind release! Scars of the wind technique!"

Naruto decided on this technique since this technique covers the largest grounds and the only way to avoid this technique was by hiding behind an object but since Itachi was nowhere near a tree or whatsoeve, Itachi was bound to receive the hit. Itachi narrowed his eyes and without thinking, charged towards Naruto.

Itachi felt a few cuts on his skin but he ignored it. When he reached Naruto, Itachi grabbed Naruto by the neck and raised him off the ground. Naruto gasped for air, trying to breathe but Itachi was fed up with it. It's time to end the mission and bring Naruto with him. Itachi took out an item from his pouch, some sort of cloth.

"Chidori!"

Sasuke was behind Itachi now and he plunged his Chidori into Itachi's back. Itachi released Naruto felt the pain shooting up in his body. For Sasuke to sneak up from behind, that was sneaky of him but Itachi was careless also. And all of a sudden, Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke and Naruto stared in shock.

"A shadow clone?" Naruto said in disbelief, "We've been fighting a clone?!"

Sasuke stood there like an idiot for a moment, trying to process everything. Finally, Sasuke dropped back on his butt in exhaustion. His left arm was bleeding and for the moment, useless. Sakura was uncounscious from the throw. It seemed that Itachi threw her quite hard and she must have knocked her head or something.

Sasuke grunted in pain as he touched the wounds on his left arm. Although they were just a few cuts from a shuriken, Itachi aimed at all the important nerves and the power of this throws were very severe. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and wondered their differences can be so much.

"What the hell were his intentions then?" Naruto questioned, looking at Sasuke, "What did he want?"

Sasuke shooked his head, "I have no idea."

Naruto then saw three figures headed their way. From the looks of it, it looks like they were Konoha ANBU ninjas. Sasuke also felt their presence and looked at the direction they were coming from. Sasuke sighed in relief and got back up on his feet, followed by Naruto.

"At least we got out alive..." Sasuke muttered. He still had a lot of training to do before he could catch up with Itachi.

**Elsewhere...**

Haruno Maki watched in horror as the giant blade of the Samehada slowly descended, to smash his head into pieces. For a second, Maki saw a quick glimpse of his past life, his journey as a ninja, the Chuunin exams, his first S-rank mission, the nine-tails attack and the death of his beloved older brother. And the words of Hanaki echoed in his head.

"Never give up," Hanaki had once said to him, "Even when all hope is lost. Even if you face someone that can kill you easily, put up a fight."

With those words, determination soared in Maki's veins and with fast reflexes, took out a brand new custom kunai and slashed Kisame's foot that was on his chest. Kisame winced in pain and stopped his attack. The blood helped create a shadow clone and the clone quickly took advantage of the situation, kicking Kisame in the chest. Kisame was sent back five metres away but that gave enough time for the clone to help the real Maki up on his feet.

"For a second there, I thought it was over," Kisame said, but his voice was not of surprise, but excitement, "But it seems I can still have some fun with you."

"What are your intentions for being in Fire country?" Maki questioned although he knew the answer.

"We're here for the nine-tails host," Kisame answered, "And Itachi should be done by now."

"Not with Kakashi in his way."

Kisame laughed, "Do you really think a mere Konoha Jounin can defeat a member of Akatsuki one-on-one?" Kisame pointed Samehada at Maki, "Come, let's cut the chit-chat and get on with the show."

Kisame then charged forward with Samehada behind him. The clone went to face Kisame but Kisame easily swung his gigantic blade at the clone. The clone took out a kunai but the kunai was easily destroyed and thus, dispelled the clone. Maki formed a seal, prepared for the former mist ninja.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Five replicas of Maki appeared and Kisame cursed in annoyance. Kisame had to admit, if it weren't for these blasted clones, Maki would have been long gone. His reputation of using clones to confuse his opponents was well-deserved. The clones formed a defensive stance in an attempt to block Kisame's path. Kisame smirked and formed a set of seals.

"Water release! Sunken destruction technique!"

Kisame blew out a large amount of water into the air and then the blob of water exploded. The water droplets were in the shape of knives and all were aimed at the clones. The clones were easily dispelled saved for one. The remaining clone engaged with Kisame but after six seconds, the clone was defeated.

"Now it's just you and me!"

Maki took out a brand new custom kunai and the two were engaged in battle. Maki swung his kunai but Kisame blocked it with his blade and using sheer strength, pushed Maki's kunai away, leaving an opening. Kisame nearly stabbed Maki in the gut but Maki side-stepped at the nick of time but Kisame was fast. Kisame delivered an elbow on Maki's right cheek, and immediately delivered several blows to Maki's chest and gut. For the final, Kisame kicked Maki's chin, sending him high into the air.

Maki, with blood seeping out of his mouth quickly formed a set of seals, "Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Kisame looked up and saw a large fireball coming right at him. Kisame sprinted to his right and when he looked up again, he only saw a small kunai coming right at him. Kisame barely avoided it, hearing the kunai hitting the ground. Kisame was surprised by the sheer speed and looked up at Maki.

"You missed!"

Maki smirked, "Release!"

A clone appeared from where the custom kunai was and Kisame forgot about Maki's second ability to create a shadow clone from his kunai. The clone grabbed Kisame under his arms, disabling his movements. Despite the size differences, the clone was able to prevent Kisame from overpowering him. The real Maki charged forward and delivered a blow to Kisame straight in the face, sending him flying backwards. For the first time since the beginning of the fight, Maki was able to make the big giant fall.

"Maybe it's time I got a little serious..." Kisame said while smiling.

'Shit,' Maki thought, 'was he just playing with me the whole time?'

Maki saw that the Samehada seemed to have grown more excited and this was confirmed with Kisame's smile. Despite his large size, Kisame was now faster than before as he charged towards Maki. Maki stepped back and quickly formed a seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Two shadow clones were created and the two clones stood next to each other, slightly in front of where Maki stood. Maki started forming a number of seals and Kisame noticed that Maki was taking a long time to create this technique. Kisame realised that the clones must be used to distract him so that Maki could complete the technique.

Kisame smirked, "Not going to happen!"

The clones smirked and to Kisame's surprise, the clones faced each other and stabbed each other with their own kunai's. The smoke created from dispelling each other was thick and it blinded Kisame's vision. Kisame continued sprinting forward, but he could not see where the original Maki was. When he was out of the smoke, Maki was charging forward, his right arm engulfed in red flames.

"Fire lance!"

Kisame widened his eyes in shock and at the speed he was charging towards Maki, it would be too late to use Samehada to consume the flames. Maki smiled as he watched Kisame's troubled expression and realised he was going for the kill. Kisame did what he could and plunged Samehada straight to the ground. The sudden impact forced Kisame to stop. Maki cursed and lunged forward, his arm still in flames.

Kisame did what he could and rolled to his right and he could the scorching heat near his hips. Maki missed the attack and landed face-first on the muddy ground, his fire lance still active. Maki turned around and saw Kisame looking down at him. Maki was prepared for another attack but Kisame placed his attentions elsewhere.

"Maki-san!" A voice called out from behind him, "Are you alright?"

Maki turned around and there, in the trees were six ANBU's with their katana's drawn out. There were two other elite Jounins with them and Maki was glad that reinforcements had arrived. Kisame twitched in annoyance. He was beginning to have fun after that last attack by Maki but it looks like he had better retreat.

"Water clone technique!"

Kisame created six water clones and all six prepared for combat. The ANBU's all jumped next to Maki with their katana's drawn out. Although they just needed to land one blow on the clone, they were facing an S-rank criminal so they should not underestimate it. Kisame started sprinting westward.

"See you later, Konoha fools!"

Maki growled in anger and plunged his 'fire lance' to the nearest clone.

**With Jiraiya...**

Jiraiya was surprised by the increase in speed Itachi had. A few times, Jiraiya almost lost his life when Itachi attempted to slice his neck off but Jiraiya was able to avoid them. However, Jiraiya had the upper hand for his array of techniques. Currently, Jiraiya had absolutely no idea where Itachi was. He lost him when Itachi used a fire technique to blind Jiraiya's vision.

Itachi panted softly as he hid behind the bark of a tree, 'I can barely keep up with him,' Itachi thought, 'If this goes on, I will be defeated. I have to retreat and since my clone was already defeated, we have completed our objectives. My Mangekyou sharingan also will not last long.'

Itachi was taken by surprsie when a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag plunged right next to his face. Itachi immediately jumped out of his hiding spot as the tag exploded, sending the tree splinters in different directions. Jiraiya saw Itachi and immediately casted a set of seals.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Itachi saw no way to avoid that technique. Below him, there were several ANBU's and elite Jounins. If he was to fight all of them with Jiraiya, he was as good as dead. It was time for him to retreat. The fireball was nearing him when a wave of water smothered the flames.

Itachi landed on a tree branch, "Your timing is perfect."

Kisame smirked, placing Samehada on his shoulder, "I see you're having difficulties over here."

"You could say that." Itachi covered his eyes with his hand, "Buy me a few seconds. We need to get out of here."

"So you're going to use it?" Kisame asked as he swung Samehada around.

Itachi merely nodded. Kisame saw an ANBU ninja coming at him and with sheer force, slashed the ANBU's shoulder. The ANBU was surprised that the blade was used to shave instead of normal blades. Kisame laughed at the poor ANBU and fought another ANBU with his gigantic blade. More ANBU's continued pressuring Kisame until Kisame was forced to be on the defensive.

"Kisame," Itachi said, revealing his eyes, "That's enough."

Kisame nodded and jumped back. Itachi looked at the group of ANBU's and concentrated his chakra.

"Amaterasu!"

Black flames appeared out of nowhere and some of the ANBU ninjas were caught. They screamed in agony and the other comrades tried to smother the black flames but it was impossible. Itachi was panting heavily now and his eyes were starting to bleed. Kisame had to help Itachi on his feet and the two were retreating with no ANBU's trying to stop them.

Jiraiya cursed softly, "They got away. But these black flames are interesting..."

**Back at Konoha, evening time...**

Sasuke was being treated by a medic-nin in the hospital while his two comrades waited for him outside. Sasuke winced in pain as the medic-nin applied more chakra to his left arm. From what he heard, it seems that the shurikens damaged him were much more serious than he actually thought. Sasuke tried to divert his attention elsewhere to ease his pain but it was futile.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a worried voice.

"I just knocked my head a little, but I'll live." Sakura replied.

"I'm sorry... I should have protected you but instead..." Naruto said in anger.

"It's alright, at least you're safe."

Naruto kissed Sakura lightly on the lips and the two looked lovingly. Blue cerulean eyes stared into the green orbs, mesmerised by each other. They were taken out of their gaze by the steps of a ninja approaching them. Actually, there were five of them. They were Jiraiya, Maki supporting an uncounscious Kakashi, the Hokage and a senior council member.

"Maki-sensei!" Naruto called out.

"Naruto," Maki said quickly, "I want you to take Sakura home. That's an order."

Maki passed by them quickly but Sakura called out, "Won't you be coming home?"

"Late! Tell your mother it's an emergency!"

With that, Maki entered a room and the two Gennins were lost in their thoughts, wondering if what happened to them earlier in the afternoon also happened to other Konoha ninjas. Naruto wrapped Sakura's shoulders and slowly they made their way out of the hospital.

"This is bad," Maki said as he laid Kakashi on the bed, "Are Akatsuki after Naruto already? I thought they would come in three years time."

Jiraiya shrugged, "They must be just gathering information on Naruto, I don't know. But, I do know that Naruto is not safe in Konoha."

"So what do you suggest?" The old council asked, curious.

"I would like to take him on a journey, to train him. This way, I can strengthten Naruto and also avoid Akatsuki from capturing him since we are always on the move."

"That is a good plan," Tsunade said, nodding her head, "But will it be enough? For an Akatsuki to easily take out Kakashi, will Naruto have enough time?"

Jiraiya chuckled, "Trust me, Naruto will be ready in two years time." Jiraiya looked at Maki, "I will be taking Naruto in three weeks time. Prepare him and I want you and Kakashi to also strengthen yourselves up. That goes for Naruto's team mates."

Maki nodded and looked at Kakashi. He did not hear what the other three were discussing after that. He was just worried for Naruto.


	44. Haruno Hanaki's legacy

**Hei guys, here's the update. Wow, its been a year since I submitted this story. Anywayx... erm... This chapter is dedicated mostly to Maki and Sakura, or basically, their family. I received a couple of PM's requesting some background of Hanaki, Sakura's father and some of Maki's background.**

**Im not sure if this chapter will give a lot, but it might help, I don't know, lol. You guys didnt specify what you wanted to know. Anyway, this will be a pretty short chapter.**

**Man, I alsi wish I was good at drawing, that way I could do a Doujinshi on this story so that I can show the battle scenes much more clearer... Sadly, i SUCK in drawing =P**

**Next chapter, "An alliance reformed"**

CHAPTER 44: HARUNO HANAKI'S LEGACY

**Flashback**

"Don't you think it's dangerous of you to write it all down in a scroll, ni-san?" A sixteen year-old Maki asked.

"Oh shut up brat," Hanaki joked as he continued writing on a scroll, "It's not like anyone will steal it. I just want to teach it to my daughter in the future."

Maki scoffed, "Suyuki-chan is not even pregnant yet. You guys just got married a month ago and you're already saying you will have a daughter?"

Hanaki ignored his younger brother and continued writing down the seals needed to cast his ultimate genjutsu. This technique required a set amount of seals and a very good control of chakra or else, the genjutsu might backfire. That was why Hanaki was writing down every single detail of the technique but Maki was worried that an outsider might get a hold of it.

"Stop complaining," Hanaki said as he finished writing, "This technique saved your very life in the last mission."

"I was careless." Maki muttered.

"A ninja shouldn't be careless," Hanaki cautioned, "You were lucky I was there to save you. Honestly, your use of shadow clones drains too much chakra. You should bring more of those kunai's since they save your chakra."

Maki simply nodded. Hanaki sighed, "I wonder what I should name my daughter?"

"How do you know you will have a girl?"

Hanaki smiled and the two brothers started making their way home from the Konoha Park. The scroll was in Hanaki's back pouch and he had to keep it in a safe place. As the two continued walking, Maki looked at the trees.

"The cherry blossom trees are beautiful at this time of the year." Maki commented.

Hanaki looked at the beautiful trees as they swayed from the wind. 'Cherry blossoms eh?' Hanaki thought, 'That might be a good name.'

**End of flashback**

Haruno Maki woke up from the sound of his alarm clock ringing loudly on his bedside table. He groaned and looked at the time. It was just seven in the morning and he had a rough night just two days ago, so his body still ached. The Hokage had given him a week break and Sakura was still injured from the knock on her head. The only one's that were allowed to do missions were Naruto and Sasuke and because of the Akatsuki encounter, the two were being watched closely and only being aassigned D-rank missions, much to their dismay.

Maki raised his body up from his bed and looked outside the window. He thought about that dream, about the conversation he had. He was still a Chuunin at that time and it was just a year later he became a Jounin, and he passed the exams without much trouble at all. He was quite good with the shadow clones at that time hence the exams were easy.

'That scroll,' Maki thought, 'It's still with me. It's practically useless to me since I am not a genjutsu user but...' Maki shook his head, 'What am I thinking? I can't teach that to Sakura. Although Hanaki told me that the scroll was easy to understand, he also said it was dangerous if you made a mistake.'

Maki then remembered about the incident with the Akatsuki. He was unable to believe that his niece's life was in danger while he was facing another Akatsuki. He thought Kakashi would be able to distract Itachi and then Jiraiya's arrival should have enforced that. Maki rubbed his forehead. Perhaps it was best that Sakura learned her father's technique as a last resort to defend herself.

"Maki," Suyuki called from the outside his room, "Come on down for breakfast."

"I don't have any missions today," Maki replied as he rubbed his tired eyes, "Can't I just sleep in for today?"

"Get your lazy ass out of the bed," Suyuki scolded, now opening the door and looking at Maki, "You may not have any mission, but you should make most of the day. For example, what about making some plans for tonight with the family? It has been far too long since we all had some quality time together."

Maki closed his eyes and smiled at that. What Suyuki had just said was true and he remembered the times when he had to struggle with missions to bring in money for the family. Maki scratched his hair and got off the bed. Suyuki was waiting for his answer, he hands on her hips. Maki knew that was a sign that Suyuki was getting impatient. After all, living under the same roof for thirteen years with someone, you just get used to their habits.

"Alright," Maki said as he looked for a towel, "You choose the place, time and anything else. I got my pay from my previous mission so it's okay to spend some of it tonight."

Suyuki grinned and made her way downstairs, no doubt to the kitchen. Maki started to take his morning bath, enjoying the warm water pouring down his sore and aching body.

Sakura was in the kitchen, watching her mother humming to herself a happy tune, something that she does not do very often. Sakura knew that something must have happened to put her in such a good mood. Sakura shrugged and continued eating her breakfast. She knew that she has no mission today due to her injury. As a matter of fact, she has to visit the hospital for a quick check-up on her bruise to make sure that she's okay.

"So, what's for breakfast?" Maki asked as he entered the kitchen, wearing his familiar Jounin suit.

"Just a sandwich and some milk, uncle Maki." Sakura answered as she finished her sandwich.

Maki took a sit and filled his glass of milk, "How's your head?"

"I'm going to have a check-up regarding that matter," Sakura replied and stood up, "And i'm heading to the hospital for that exact reason right now."

Maki sighed and started on his breakfast. Since Maki had told Suyuki that it was her choice on where they would be eating tonight, Maki had a good idea where she would pick her choice. It was most likely at the restaurant next to a stream, where his brother had proposed to her. Since he and hanaki do look alike, she would sometimes ask him to dance with her for her sweet memories. Maki had to oblige since she was his sister-in law.

"Be ready by seven tonight," Suyuki told Maki, "And don't be late."

"I won't," Maki answered as he walked out of the door, "I'm just going to visit ni-san for a while."

**With Naruto and Sasuke...**

Naruto had a kunai in hand and was on high alert. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated to watch over their surroundings. They were assigned a C-rank mission after Naruto kept begging Tsunade to give them a much more difficult mission than those boring D-rank missions. Tsunade finally relented and gave them a C-rank mission which was to escort a caravan of goods from Konoha to a village to the south of Konoha. However, Naruto and Sasuke were paired up with Neji on this mission.

The traders with the caravan were arrogant bastards and Sasuke had to hold Naruto back from beating them up. Not only would they have failed the mission but the reputation of Konoha would be very bad also.

"Naruto," Neji said, "There are twenty of them. Prepare yourselves!"

Naruto smirked, "Shadow replication technique!"

Six clones of Naruto appeared and Neji got into the Hyuuga stance. Sasuke was glad that he was going to have some fun while escorting these boring old men to wherever they were headed. Twenty bandits appeared from their hiding spots and attacked the Gennins, but they were Konoha ninjas and they were well prepared.

**With Maki...**

Maki walked solemly with his hands in his pockets. He could hear the birds chirping in the trees and the sun was shining high in the sky. It was a beautiful weather but it did not fit his mood. This was a side that he rarely showed to his family or friends. He was like Kakashi, a person that could not let go of his past. It's not that he felt responsible on the death of his brother; it was just that he still thinks that his brother was alive.

The memorial stone was still some distance away and right now, Maki had just passed by a graveyard. This particular graveyard was reserved only for ninjas that had died but not all of them have made their names to the memorial stone. Most of the names engraved on the stone were mostly ninjas that died in the great ninja war or during the Kyuubi invasion. Maki remembered the conversation he had with his brother on that night.

**Flashback...**

"All ninjas, report to the north of Konoha," an ANBU ninja announced using a jutsu that made his voice heard throughout the village, "I repeat, report to the north of Konoha. Defend the gates until the Hokage arrives."

Everyone in Konoha panicked. Indeed some Konoha scouts have reported to the Hokage about the possibility of the nine-tailed demon heading to Konoha and would reach Konoha by nightfall. Minato had made the announcement and made sure the ninjas were prepared for the worst. It looks like that time had come.

"Suyuki," Hanaki called, "Stay safe and take care of Sakura."

"Don't go," Suyuki begged with tears rolling down her cheeks, "We just had our baby girl... Stay here."

"It's my duty as a ninja of Konoha, Suyuki-chan. Please understand." Hanaki said, unable to bear watching his beautiful wife cry.

Suyuki could not reply and could only continue to sob. Hanaki hugged his wife and the two embraced each other tightly, not wanting to let the other go. After all, the legendary tailed beasts were powerful monsters and for the nine-tails, the most powerful of them all to come and attack Konoha. The result of this would bring in many deaths to Konoha.

"I love you, Suyuki-chan. Remember that." Hanaki said softly and with that, kissed her on the lips. Suyuki embraced Hanaki tightly, never wanting to let go from the warmth but after a minute, the two finally released their hold from each other.

Hanaki rubbed his short pink hair in frustration and took out all the necessary ninja equipments that he would need for this mission. Hanaki was all done preparing a few minutes later and he could hear the ninjas outside his house giving orders. He could see outside the window ANBU black opts heading to the north. Hanaki gave a small prayer and was prepared to move out.

"You don't have to go, you know?" Maki said, leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed on his chest.

"Maki..."

"Ni-san, the Hokage had said himself that ninjas who have families have a choice to stay with their families and let the others take care of it," Maki reminded his brother, "Stay here with your daughter. And Suyuki."

Hanaki scoffed in a joking way, "Don't think just because you've finally surpassed me in skills and reputation that you can start ordering me around." Hanaki was now standing a few inches away from his younger brother, "I want to fight. I want to defend Konoha."

"Ni-san..." Maki closed his eyes, "You just started your family. You're putting all of that at risk here. What happens if you die? Or if both of us die? Who will support them?!"

"I know you will," Hanaki said with a smile on his face, "You won't die... Not yet. The so-called "replicator" won't fall to a mere demon, will he?"

"Stop using that nickname," Maki said, "Ni-san, please... Just stay here. You're just a genjutsu user and I don't think that will be very useful against a beast"

Hanaki sighed, "Don't worry about me."

With that, Hanaki walked past Maki and started to make his way to the north gate of Konoha. Maki sighed softly and tied his headband tightly to his forehead. If he does die tonight, he wanted to make sure his headband was tied securely to his head, to show that he was a Konoha ninja. With that, Maki left his brother's house only to find an ANBU captain waiting for him.

"Maki-san," the ANBU captain said, "The Hokage requests your presence."

Maki nodded and started making his way to the hospital. In the hospital, he found Kakashi there, and the 'Toad Sannin' and also the former Hokage, Sarutobi. Minato was pacing around impatiently, waiting the news of his son and wife. The three shinobi's stood there watching him, waiting for his orders. The three top ninjas of Konoha waited while a demon continued it's rampage on their homeland.

**End of flashback...**

Maki was now at the memorial stone and he scanned through the many names listed on it. He finally found his brother's name and he smiled. There were so many ninjas honoured here and he wondered when he died if his name would be listed down on this stone. Maki sighed and began.

"So, how're you doing, ni-san?" Maki asked, "Honestly, things aren't doing so well these past few weeks. First, an invasion occured on Konoha and luckily, we prevailed. That bastard Orochimaru led the invasion. And then, just last week, an organisation called 'Akatsuki' entered the Fire country. I'm sure you know one of the members. He was Itachi, the ex-ninja of Konoha. Yeah, that guy's in the organisation and I don't even want to imagine how powerful the leader can be to actually manage ninjas with Itachi's abilities."

Maki continued speaking to the stone and some would definitely find it strange for a ninja talking to a stone. And furthermore, a ninja was not supposed to hold any sign of emotions but to Maki, that particular law was bullshit to him. A ninja was still a human being and to cut off a person's emotions would be like murder.

Maki had finished speaking and looked at his brother's name. Just as he was about to leave the place, a familiar presence appeared from behind.

"I see you that you're here too..." The silver-haired Jounin said with his eyes on his familiar orange book.

"How are things with you?" Maki asked, turning to look at his friend, "Heard Tsunade had to heal you from that genjutsu Itachi used on you."

Kakashi chuckled, "Yeah. I was trapped in that genjutsu for three days but in reality, only a second had passed in the real world. I have never faced such a powerful genjutsu in my life."

The two were silent after that. Maki stepped aside and Kakashi looked at the memorial stone. Kakashi once again felt sadness as he looked at the name of his friend. Kakashi still have nightmares of the night when Obito died. If it was not for his arrogance, he could have lived a little longer than die at such a young age. Kakashi closed his eyes and imbersed himself in the memories he had with Obito. Most of them were arguements he had with the Uchiha, but they were the only memories he had other than that incident.

Maki left the copy ninja alone and started making his way back to the village. After all, he was done here. He just wanted to have a little chat with his brother, to visit him. Maki was surprised that it was already four in the afternoon. It seemed that he had actually spent a long time at the memorial stone. Then again, that was normal. Time always flies when you're doing something that occupies your mind.

Maki had also made the decision on what he was going to do with the scroll that his brother had written down once. Maki never thought of that scroll ever since Hanaki's death since there was no use and Hanaki's only wish was to teach his daughter. No one else will know of this technique. Now, it was time for Hanaki's technique is taught, a technique that no one knows of in this world.

The one thing Maki hated about the memorial stone was that it was on the other end of the village, so he had to walk from the west to the east of Konoha, and if he were to walk, that would take about forty-five minutes. As Maki walked in the streets of Konoha, he watched the happy villagers living their lives. Some were traders doing their business, while some were citizens that Konoha did not bother to notice. Maki even noticed some teenagers that were dating one another and it troubled him by the fact that he was still a virgin. Maki sweatdropped at that thought.

"What's wrong? You're blushing." A voice said from behind.

Maki jumped and turned around. To his surprise, it was Asuma, "Asuma! You scared me."

"You were so lost in thought. Is there something bothering you?" Asuma asked as he took out a packet of cigarettes.

"No, I was just thinking about my brother and all..." Maki lied, not wanting to admit such an embarassing fact.

"Your brother?" Asuma had already lighted his cigarette and was smoking now, "Yeah, I remember him. I remember going on a mission with him and he used a genjutsu on a guy that was so crazy, that guy's head went crazy."

Maki smiled, "That was his ultimate genjutsu."

Asuma nodded in agreement, "Like your 'fire lance,' he rarely used it unless he had to. Very few ninjas had the honour of forcing him to use it, but unfortunately, they would never be sane after that."

"Yeah..."

After they parted and said their farewells, Maki had already reached home. He entered the door and there he found Sakura in the living room reading a novel. Maki had already made his decision on what to do with the scroll that his brother had left with him.

"Sakura," Maki called out as he walked to the kitchen, "Can you meet me at the back?"

Sakura grunted but obeyed her uncle's orders. Sakura found her uncle in the middle of the backyard doing a set number of seals. Sakura waited for her uncle but after a full minute of standing there and doing nothing, Sakura was getting frustrated to be called out of her novel. Maki was still doing a number of seals.

"Uncle Maki," Sakura said with an annoyed tone, "What is it?"

"Sakura, do you remember the conversation we had at the tower after you completed the second part of the Chuunin exams?" Maki asked as he completed the sixty seals, "The one where I told you that one day I will teach you your father's most powerful genjutsu?"

Sakura remembered having that sort of conversation with her uncle. On that night, she was given her father's forehead protector given to her by her uncle. **(Chapter18)**

**Flashback**

"Now Sakura," Maki said, "Don't lose this. It is the last connection you have of your father. And perhaps, when you are old enough and have mastered your genjutsu, I can give you a scroll that belongs to your father on his most powerful genjutsu ever."

Maki then turned serious, "However, when I do teach you this genjutsu Sakura, you must remember that this genjutsu is a forbidden technique and must be used only when you have to. Do you understand?"

**End of flashback**

"Well, it is time I give you the scroll regarding that forbidden technique. This is because of that incident with Akatsuki and I do not want your life to be endangered, Sakura..." Maki concentrated some chakra and when he was done, he released it, "Seal, release!"

From where Maki stood, three metres in front of him, the ground burst and this startled Sakura. Once the dust had settled, Sakura could see Maki was holding some sort of scroll. It was white in colour and very small compared to the normal scrolls that she has seen ninjas carry. Maki approached her and kneeled so that he was on eye-level with Sakura.

"Sakura," Maki started, "This is the scroll that your father wrote down regarding his most powerful genjutsu ever. I want you to keep it, learn it but only use it when your life depends on it. Although it is the most powerful, there is a drawback. It requires extremely precise chakra control and if you fail that, the genjutsu will backfire."

"Then isn't it dangerous?"

Maki nodded, "That's why you should use it only when your life is in danger. Your father wanted this technique be taught to his daughter, and he said this before your mom was even pregnant."

Sakura had a tear escaping her eyes and she hugged her uncle. Maki returned the hug and the two stayed there not moving a muscle for nearly five minutes. That night, the three Haruno's had a wonderful time and enjoyed the presence of one another. The family were all happy and all bad memories were forgotten on that night.


	45. An alliance reformed

**Hei guys, here's the new update. Sorry for the delay but i have no connections at all here in KL so yeah. Hope you enjoy this new chapter and please review.**

**Next chapter, "Hot spring vacation"**

CHAPTER 45: AN ALLIANCE REFORMED

"What the hell do you mean?!" A senior council member yelled, looking at the Sand Jounin that had just delivered the report.

All the Sand council members glared at the Sand Jounin, unable to believe their ears. It was bad enough that many of their Jounins had died during the invasion of Konoha and leaving the Sand village with only a few young Jounins and a small amount of elite Jounins, the Kazekage had never returned. The report held the answer though.

"It's true," The sand Jounin answered, "A team of Sand Chuunins were returning from their mission when they found a body in a crevice. Without a doubt, it was Kazekage-sama, and from their report, Kazekage-same's body was there for weeks, definitely before the invasion."

"If that's true..." A council member started, rubbing his beard.

"It's not true!" The senior council member interrupted, "It's probably just..."

"IF it's true, then we have to accept the fact that Orochimaru betrayed us all." A female council member said and the council were silent after that. Later on, they accepted the fact that their Kazekage was indeed killed after Baki had personally inspected the body. However, the Sand never informed the public about the cause of death of the Kazekage, simply claiming that he had died during the invasion. If word got out, it would be devastating since it would show that the late Kazekage and the council had made a bad decision in betraying Konoha and allying with the Sound, and the people would go against the government.

At the main gate of the Sand, a team was ready to leave for a B-rank mission. Despite being only Gennins under the teachings of an elite Jounin, the Gennins were considered Chuunins in the Sand village.

"Have you heard?" One of the gate guards asked Himura, "That Kazekage-sama was killed before the actual invasion by Orochimaru?"

Himura nodded, sighing, "For now, we have to concentrate in strengthtening the Sand village first. We have no time to mourn for our lost comrades in the invasion."

The guard nodded as he opened the gates, "Still, who do you think will be the next Kazekage?"

Himura shrugged, "Baki would be a good choice. He is skilled in political matters and is a strong-enough ninja for the position of Kazekage."

"No..." Gaara interrupted, "I will be the Kazekage when my time comes. I will get stronger so that I can protect the people of the Sand."

Everyone stared at Gaara in silence. Ever since Gaara returned after the invasion, he had changed drastically. He no longer had murderious intent and he talked more than last time. Because of this, his skills had improved tremendously and some even considered him to be a Jounin if not for his age. He also acted as a team with his siblings rather than as a one-man ninja.

"Still," The guard said as Himura's team started to depart, "We're glad that we didn't lost you, Himura-san. It would have been another major blow to the sand to lose one of our elite Jounins."

Himura looked back at the guard as the memories of the invasion started. By right, she had actually died in the invasion but Maki had spared her life because of a promise he made with her when they still in the academy. Himura had forgotten that promise and only remembered when Maki spared her.

Himura smiled at the guard, "You'll have to thank the 'replicator' of Konoha for that."

That only left the guard confused.

**Three days later, a meeting room in Konoha**

Tsunade was getting bored with the discussion that they were having. The council and senior council members kept getting back to square one and it was driving her nuts. She could even see Sarutobi, who had become a council member after he was released from the hospital, was getting frustrated with the discussion.

"Can we really trust them this time?" A council member questioned.

"It could be a trick," Another said, "After all of this; do they actually think we can become allies again?"

"Even if we do become allies, we should demand some compensation after all of this!" A young council member added.

The arguements and suggestions continued on for the next half an hour. It was just yesterday that a messenger had arrived from the Sand and informed Konoha that they wish to be allies once again and thus this meeting was to discuss regarding the matter. The messenger gave Konoha a week to answer it and if they agree to become allies again, three senior council members of the Sand would arrive accompanied by teams of Sand ninja.

As usual, Danzo had actually opposed to the idea of becoming allies and said that it they should instead invade the Sand village. With that, Konoha would not only gain prestige by eliminating one of the main powers of the village but also increase their power by doing so. However, many of the council members held doubt with that idea since the risks of losing more ninjas of Konoha were high and another major village might invade Konoha.

"Enough of this," Sarutobi finally said loudly, "This is not a very difficult problem to be solved!"

"What do you suggest then?" The male advisor asked his former Hokage.

"We should accept the alliance," Sarutobi said, releasing a puff of smoke from his pipe, "You have to also look at the point of view of the Sand. It is clear that they too had suffered in the invasion with the many losses of their Jounins. Unlike the Sand, Konoha has several elite Jounins and two of them are already very well known in the ninja world. The Sand has suffered in their strength and to put it worse, the messenger had said that they discovered that their Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru before the invasion even began, which means that Orochimaru had already betrayed them and if the Sand had found out about this, would not have participated in the invasion."

Now all eyes were on the former Hokage as he continued, "Furthermore, you have to also accept the fact that Konoha is now without an ally. All the other five major powers are allied with one another and we would be in trouble if this we do not have a friend. The Rock village would become even more dangerous to us and we do not want a repeat of a ninja war. Konoha's strength had also decreased in power and we do not want to simply waste hundreds of ninjas for nothing! We need an ally, and the Sand here is more than willing to be our ally. Why waste time?"

Tsunade agreed with her old teacher's suggestion and slowly, the other council members agreed to the idea. The next day, Konoha sent a messenger to the Sand village with their answer and after everything was agreed upon, three senior council members of the Sand readied to depart from their village accompanied by a few other squads of Sand ninja. It was no surprise that Gaara was part of this team. They were set to arrive in precisely three days.

**In konoha, three days later...**

Uzumaki Naruto waited as the water continued to boil at an extremely slow rate. This was one of the things he hated the most and at times like these that he wished he knew a fire technique. Three agonizing minutes later, the water was boiled and Naruto poured all of the boiled water into his Ramen cup. Instantly, Naruto ate his breakfast at record speed, not even feeling the heat of the broth.

Today, Naruto had another boring D-rank mission but he wasn't the only one. A few other Gennin teams and even Chuunin team have been assigned to patrol the village since some Sand ninjas and old guys coming to Konoha. From what he heard, it seems that the Sand now wants to become Konoha's ally again after they discovered that they had also been deceived.

It was ten in the morning now and he had to meet up with his team at the gates of Konoha. Team seven and the other teams were to stand guard until the Sand's arrival and then they were free to patrol the village. Maki had doubts about the Sand but he claimed that he will just hope that Konoha would not fall for the Sand again.

'Alright,' Naruto thought as he tied his back pouch, 'Better head out now or I'll be late.'

Many of the villagers were reluctant with the decision made by the Hokage and some were beginning to critisize her decision in accepting the Sand as their allies once again. Many had died in the invasion, and not just the ninjas. However, the other villagers also saw this as a wise decision since the Rock village might take the opportunity to attack Konoha if Konoha had no allies.

Naruto always wondered why the leaf and the rock were still in bad terms even after they had a peace treaty. Maki and the old former Hokage had said that it was because the late fourth Hokage had killed a large amount of Rock ninjas but that shouldn't be the main reason since they were in a war. Naruto also noticed that the old Hokage hesitated before he actually answered Naruto. Maki also had a flicker in his eyes at that time.

'I got no time to think of useless things.' Naruto thought pushing away the thought, 'the past is the past anyway.'

"Honestly, I don't know what the Gondaime could have been thinking? The Sand backstabbed us and now, we're simply accepting them as an ally again? What could she be thinking?!" An elderly lady said to her friend as she swept the floor near her house. Naruto heard this as he walked past the woman.

As Naruto walked in the streets of Konoha, he could several other ninjas hanging around the area. They were most likely on the mission too in patroling Konoha and occasionally, an ANBU squad would pass above them as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. The citizens were going about their daily lives, buying the goods from shops and children were happily running around, some playing a tag. Naruto couldn't help but smile from this sort of scene. After all, he wanted to become the Hokage one day so all of these were precious people that he needed to protect one day.

Sadly, the Hokage had to take all the blame since she was the one that made the announcement to the whole village with the explanation that it would be best since the Rock village might become hostile. Even though this decision was made with the whole council, only the Hokage was blamed since she was the image of the village. That was one burden that a Hokage had to bear.

When Naruto arrived at the gates, he could see several teams were already there waiting for the arrival of the Sand ninjas. Naruto spotted his team between team ten and some other Gennin team that Naruto does not recognise. Sasuke spotted him first, followed then by Naruto. Maki was nowhere to be found though.

"Hei guys!" Naruto greeted.

"Naruto-kun! Good morning!" Sakura greeted back happily while Sasuke simply gave a nod.

"Oh, Naruto... It's you." Shikamaru said, yawning.

"Whoa," Naruto said looking at Shikamaru's changed appearence, "Since when did you get the Chuunin vest?"

Shikamaru groaned, "Just a few days ago. It's so troublesome. The vest is heavier than it looks and it irritates me sometimes when I'm trying to take a nap."

Sasuke snickered at that and that was a surprise to the others except team seven. They were already used to the Sasuke that could now at least talk to them and sometimes at least laugh a little when Naruto made up some lame joke.

"So how are you guys handling missions with a three-man cell?" Sakura asked.

"It's quite okay actually," Chouji answered with a mouthful of chips, "Shikamaru is the tactics in the team and I provide power while Asuma-sensei provides us as a melee combat to the enemy."

"It can be troublesome sometimes too," Shikamaru added, "Since we lack one member, we can sometimes be easily outnumbered."

Naruto scoffed, "But you're a Chuunin right? I'm sure you can handle it."

Shikamaru sighed, "Look, we got to meet up with Asuma-sensei at the main gates. We'll catch up some other time."

Naruto and the rest of team seven waved goodbye as Chouji and Shikamaru made their way to the main gates. Sasuke could see Asuma talking to some ANBU and was envious that Shikamaru was made a Chuunin. He still needed to get stronger but from Kakashi had told him in the last training session, Sasuke's Sharingan still needed a little more push before it could be awakened to the next level.

"Strange," Naruto said suddenly as he started looking left and right, "Where's Maki-sensei?"

"He was here but then some ANBU black opts came and wanted a word with him," Sasuke answered, looking at the direction where the ANBU black opts went, "I wonder what they want."

"These few days uncle Maki have been busy," Sakura said, sighing, "Being top elite Jounin requires a lot of work and expectations."

Naruto grinned, "And that's not even being a Hokage yet. Man, I really can't wait until I become Hokage one day. Believe it!"

Sasuke and Sakura smiled at their blonde team mates and then stood at attention as they waited for the arrival of the Sand. The other ninjas were also getting restless and some of the Gennins were beginning to complain about the heat from the sun. Sasuke looked at the adult Gennins and couldn't believe they were still Gennins at their age. It was simply a disgrace and humiliation to have that rank when you have already past the age of sixteen.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" A voice said from behind. Naruto looked back and found himself looking at an ANBU captain.

"Yeah?"

"From our reports, it says that you defeated Gaara, the son of the late Kazekage?" The ANBU captain asked.

Naruto nodded and the ANBU captain bowed slightly, "Thank you. That boy was considered a Chuunin rank and for you to have beaten him is highly appreciated. We were all so busy in the invasion that we did not..."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto interjected, "It was no big deal."

The ANBU captain smiled beneath his mask, "It was, Naruto. You just don't know."

With that, the ANBU captain left and this only confused Naruto even more. He remembered that Maki did say that Gaara was a key position in the invasion and it was true that Gaara had some monstrous form since he had a demon within him, like Naruto. But it was not as if Gaara turned into a giant and started destroying the village from the inside, right?

"Looks like they've arrived." Sasuke said, looking at the gates.

In the distance, everyone at the gates could see several figures approaching. Leading the group were three men in robes, most likely the senior council members of the Sand village and they were accompanied by at least four team of ninja squad and one of them an ANBU of the Sand. Naruto instantly recognised the red haired ninja in the team with his female teacher.

"Gaara..." Naruto said softly. Although they fought one another a few weeks ago, Naruto considered Gaara someone as some sort of friend since the two have suffered the same fate, holding demons withhin them. Unlike Naruto however, everyone in the village including children were aware of the demon while in Konoha, in the age group of Naruto, none are aware of the Kyuubi. Naruto could also tell that Gaara had changed since he no longer had that monstrous killing intent leaking out of him. Perhaps what Naruto had said to him after his fight got through.

Gaara saw Naruto and was happy to see him. Because of him, Gaara had changed a lot and for the better too. Temari could see Gaara smiling and looking at Naruto. Temari nodded, knowing that Naruto was the person that had changed her little brother. She would have to thank Naruto personally if she saw him later for changing her brother.

The Sand senior council members were impressed that Konoha looked like they had never been attacked before. From the reports they read, Konoha was damaged severely and the south of Konoha was burning with flames and in a few weeks, they were already back to normal. Himura once again felt nostalgic returning twice to her home village but there was also a large amount of guilt in her part for attacking the place she once called 'home.' She should have been by now.

As the Sand ninjas passed by, Gaara slowly passed by Naruto and when he was within reach, he whispered, "Thank you."

Naruto was caught by surprise but when he wanted to reply, Gaara was already too far ahead. Naruto simply smiled while Sakura wondered what Gaara had actually said to him.

"Alright," One of the senior council said, "All of you can disperse in the village. Only the ANBU squad will accompany us to the Hokage tower."

"Understood." All of the Sand ninjas replied as they started visiting the village. Kankurou earlier saw Sasuke, the same person that had beaten him in the invasion. He wanted to pay a visit to the Uchiha and he had to find him first. After all, the discussion for the new alliance would definitely take some time so he doesn't have to worry about hurrying up.

Sakura wondered what they were supposed to do now. Since the Sand ninjas were now seperated and the orders by the Hokage were to just patrol Konoha, it was basically a free mission. Sakura looked at Naruto staring at Gaara and lunged for his arm, grabbing for his arm and hugging it.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, not used to this sort of behaviour.

Sakura smiled, "I just wanna enjoy this moment."

Naruto was taken aback for a moment but then laid his head on Sakura's head while Sakura rested her head on Naruto's arm. Some of the ninjas that noticed this developement were touched while others were... sick for this sort of lovey-dovey atmosphere.

**With Maki...**

On the rooftop of a building, Maki, Kakashi, Gai and three other elite Jounins were waiting for the arrival of two moer ANBU black opts to arrive for their meeting. From what the ANBU black opt captain had informed them, they had arranged this meeting with two other squads so they had to wait for their arrival. It had already been fifteen minutes and Maki wanted to be with his team right now and the sun was starting to be unbearable.

The villagers below were talking to a team of Sand ninjas and were speaking out their distrust of the Sand's alliance and the Sand ninja were telling them the details that they were betrayed. Kakashi shook his head and couldn't blame the villagers. As another minute passed, Kakashi took out his orange book and began reading where he last left off.

"I see you still retain your old habits, Kakashi-san." An ANBU black opt ninja said, snickering.

"Old habits die hard." Kakashi simply replied without taking his eyes off the book.

"Ohh! There is that cool attitude of his again!!" Gai exclaimed loudly, "We should use this time for us to settle our rivalry!"

Everyone on the rooftop was looking at Gai as he shook his fist in excitement and after a moments of silence, all Kakashi did was turning the next page of his perverted book. Gai sweatdropped and started crying and now everyone sweatdropped. Before this charade could continue, the other two black opt squad had arrived. Kakashi placed his orange book into his back pouch, his ears ready to hear what they have got to say.

"We have a problem," The ANBU black opt captain started, "Last night, around midnight, we lost contact with one of our outposts of Konoha to the north-east, around thirty kilometres away from Konoha. Although it couldn't be Sand ninjas trying to break off their promise of an alliance treaty, we have to check that out."

"So why do you need to call us?" Maki asked, "I'm sure you guys could check it out."

The captain turned to Maki, "Because we were told by Hokage-sama personally to stay within the walls. The most I can do is send an ANBU squad to scout the area and I do not intend to waste their lives. So, I want at least three of you elite Jounins and the ANBU squad I'm sending to check it out."

"I'll go..." An elite Jounin, around his mid-thirties offered. Kakashi had gone on a mission with him once and this elite Jounin was a powerful ninjutsu user, having the element of earth and wind.

"Me too." Maki said next and was then followed by Gai. Kakashi and the rest did not give any other offers.

"Fine then," The captain looked at the other elite Jounins, "The rest of you, do not inform regarding this matter to anyone else. I will personally report to the Hokage once they have returned from their scouting mission."

Kakashi and the rest nodded and left the rooftop with the exception of the ANBU black opts and the elite Jounins that offered to go on the scouting mission. Maki wondered who could have attacked the outpost. Bandits were out of the question since the outpost should have at least two Jounins and they were enough to take care of bandits. The possibility that it was the Sand was high but Maki could not see why they would do that since they wanted and in a way, needed this alliance.

"Could it be them...?" Maki voiced out.

"Them?"

"Those rebellious Rock ninjas..." Maki said, trying to think, "The one known as 'Reapers.'"

The ANBU black opt captain looked at Maki with an incredulous look, "You do have a point. They have always been troublesome to Konoha after the war had ended." The ANBU black opt captain was now serious, "Alright, I want you to depart from Konoha in an hour's time with the other ANBU team I've assigned. Be prepared for the worst."

Maki and the rest nodded and jumped off the rooftop, landing in the streets of Konoha. The citizens stared at them and then continued on with whatever it was they were doing. Maki could not help but think of that possibility. Firstly, the group known as 'Reapers' were a group that did not agree to the peace treaty between the Rock and the Leaf and left the village and left their respective village's and ever since then, have attacked outposts belonging to either the Rock or Konoha. What was even more troubling was the fact that the group were led by an S-rank missing ninja of the leaf, best friend of the fourth Hokage.

Maki hoped that it was not them. The group were excellent at concealing their location and after all these years, they have encountered ninjas from that group twice. Maki sighed and was on his way home to prepare for this sudden scouting mission when a familiar face appeared in front of him. Despite their last encounter, Maki couldn't help but smile.

"Himura-chan..."

Himura smiled sheepishly at Maki, "Good to see you, Maki-kun."

Maki chuckled, "You don't have any intentions on trying to kill me again, do you?"

Himura blushed deeply, "Baka... that was... I mean, my mission, and..."

Maki stopped her, "I understand." Maki was now standing next to her, "Care for a stroll around the village?"

Himura nodded and the two started touring the village in silence. There were ninjas everywhere and the village was now considered a joyful village with the people talking with one another as if a war had never even occurred. Himura remembered the old buildings as they walked past it and were amazed by the changes in the village. The two past through the parks, apartments, residential area and finally at the academy.

"It's been a nice time sharing a moment of your time with you, Himura-chan," Maki said, breaking the silence, "But I've got to go."

"Maki-kun," Himura said, tugging on his sleeve, "I just wanted to... thank you for not ending my life, in our fight."

Maki looked at her and then hugged her, bringing her head to his chest, "Himura-chan, you were just doing your part in the mission. We were enemies then but now we will be allies again. I forgive you and I will never hurt you. That was the promise I made right over here, right?"

Himura looked up and smiled, "Thank you."

"Keep in touch, Himura-chan," Maki said finally, releasing the hug, "I've got to on a scouting mission right now."

As he departed, Himura spun him around and gave a quick peck on his lips. This surprised the pink haired Jounin even if it was just a peck. Himura smiled at him and then walked in the other direction. Maki touched his lips and blushed deeply despite him trying to act cool just a few moments ago. Maki quickly brought himself back to the real world and got ready for his mission, heading back home to grab some of his custom kunai's.

Himura stopped for a moment and looked at the departing Maki's back. His long pink hair swaying left and right from the wind and Himura wondered how Maki had grown so much. When they were Gennins, Maki was considered a ninja with no talent and only clinged to his older brother's name for protection. Kawada and most of the ninjas in their age group insulted him but now, he's a well-known ninja in the five major villages.

"Just wait, Maki-kun," Himura whispered to herself, "I'll catch up with you and one day, I'll repay your kindness."

**At the main gates...**

"Stop messing with me, puppet boy," Sasuke warned, "I'm not in the mood to beat your sorry ass back to the Sand."

Kankurou scoffed, "What's wrong? Are you afraid that I'll beat you? I've improved so much I think I could beat you with my eyes closed!"

Sasuke clenched his fists, his Sharingans now activated, "I'm warning you!"

Kankurou imitated Sasuke's movement and then spoke with a feminine voice, "I'm warning you..." Kankurou now burst out laughing, "Come on, Uchiha! Just one match and I'll keep my mouth shut!"

"Just do it, Sasuke," Naruto said, slapping Sasuke's back, "You beat him once, you'll beat him again. Besides, see it as an opportunity to train."

Sasuke looked at Naruto and then back at Kankurou. Honestly, he was really not in the mood for any sparring for today. But Sasuke finally agreed and grumbled the whole way as he led the puppet user to the training grounds. The other ninjas found this amusing and followed the two Gennins and started placing bets on who would win.

"Really, that guy..." Naruto started, "You wanna go watch?"

Sakura grinned mischeviously, "I think I've got better ideas on what to do with this spare time."

At first, Naruto did not know what she meant but when Sakura pressed her body to Naruto, he got the message. He started to sweat and swallowed slowly. Honestly, Sakura could really be the aggresive one if she wanted to. Finally, Naruto nodded and Sakura took his hand and brought him to a secluded place. Sakura checked to make sure no one was watching and with lust in her eyes, she pushed Naruto to a wall and started ravaging him.

Naruto was taken by surprise by Sakura's aggresiveness. Normally it was Naruto that initiated the kiss but Sakura was the one making the move. Naruto could feel Sakura's tongue licking his lips and after a moment, he opened his lips and Sakura took the opportunity to push her tongue in and to taste him.

'Man,' Naruto thought, 'For once, I'm glad Maki-sensei's nowhere to be found.'

**North-east of Konoha...**

Haruno Maki looked at his surroundings. Although there were no sign of enemy ninjas around, the sight was quite depressing. They knew that a fight had occured since there were blood everywhere and shurikens were all over the place. There were also several dead bodies belonging to Konoha ninjas and two bodies with no vest signifying belonging to any village.

The ANBU squad were in the command centre, trying to find any hints on the reason of attack or maybe if any of the ninjas in the outpost left a dying message. The three elite Jounins were surveying the damage and to search for any lived Konoha ninjas but it was obvious that all had died in the massacre.

"It's just as you feared." Gai said, looking at the head band of the enemy.

Maki cursed when he saw the headband. It was a Rock headband and there was a scar against the Rock village's emblem, showing that he's a missing nin of the Rock village.

"So, the 'Reapers' were responsible eh?" Maki looked at the skies, "Sensei, when will you stop this nonsense?"


	46. hot spring vacation

**My god... I was so lazy to update the chapter, sorry guys and one of the main reasons for this was that I had absolutely no idea on what to write for this chapter =/ So im very sorry about this short chapter. I will repent through my next chapter, which is... the interesting arc and the last arc before going through the time skip of Shippuden(Finally, Im in the Shippuden arc.. well, almost)**

**Next chapter, "Capture of the Uchiha"**

CHAPTER 45: HOT SPRING VACATION

The Sand and Konoha had already been allies for three weeks now and the villagers in each respective village were beginning to accept the alliance. It took the hidden leaf village a much longer time than the Sand for the people to accept the alliance but they did it in a matter of three weeks. Now, the two villages were functioning properly as if they never were involved in a fight. The two villages also promised to give one another any information regarding Orochimaru, the one person that had caused so much trouble for the two.

Konoha was also now doing fine financially and the ninjas could now rest from the tremendous amount of missions received to help overcome the expenses on repairs. As a matter of fact, three Gennin teams led by their Jounin sensei were going to a hot spring resort that just opened. It was located to the west of Konoha, just a few kilometres a way. It was an inn that allowed travellers to rest and relax.

"That idiot is late again." Sasuke commented as he, and the other Gennin teams waited for Naruto's arrival.

Shikamaru sighed, leaning on a wall at the guard's gate post, "This trip is so troublesome. I would rather spend the day watching clouds then going to a hot spring."

"That's because you're the laziest person in the village! It's not always you get to go to a hot spring inn, and for free!" Sakura retorted which made Shikamaru grunt in response to that.

The three Jounin-sensei's, Asuma, Maki and Kurenai sweat-dropped from upon hearing the statement about it being a free stay at the inn. It was true to the Gennins that it was free for them, but the three Jounins chipped in together to pay for the costs for this relaxing holiday.

"Whatever," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes, "You women are all so noisy so early in the morning."

Sakura glared at Shikamaru for a moment before letting him go. Maki sighed and looked at the streets of Konoha, seeing no sign of Naruto's arrival yet. Kiba was growing restless and Shino decided to spend some time with his bugs, whispering words to them that none could hear. As for Hinata, she was nervous since this was the first time she had a trip with all of her friends, and being the shy person that she was, she was not used to it. And to top if off, Naruto was coming too.

After another three minutes of waiting, Kiba growled in anger, "That Naruto still never changed after becoming a ninja, has he?!"

"A ninja should be patient, Kiba," Shino stated as he looked at a bug on his fingernail, "And to be quiet. Do not make any unnecessary noise such as shouting!"

Kiba looked at Shino, annoyed, "Can't you take a day off from all that serious talk?!"

"K-Kiba-kun..." Hinata was trying to calm Kiba down, to stop him from starting a fight, "Please... We are all team mates, right? So... erm... Please, don't fight..."

Kiba looked at Hinata and saw her pleading eyes. He didn't know how she did it, but just one glance at that innocent face and you would want to do anything for her. Kiba clenched his fists in anger. It was not that he hated Shino but his attitude sometimes really pissed him off. Kiba finally relented, much to Hinata's relief.

"Those two fight like Naruto and Sasuke." Sakura giggled.

Sasuke gave her a death glare, and Maki had to agree with his niece's comment. At that moment, Maki saw a figure approaching them from a distance, "Speaking of Naruto, here he comes..."

Naruto knew he was going to be in trouble the moment he woke up. He stayed up too late last night eating Ramen and now he was going to be scolded by not only his team mates, but the others from the other teams as well. Naruto grinned broadly when he arrived, hoping to ease the mood a little.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Naruto apologised, "I was... erm, packing my stuff for the trip."

All eyes were on the blonde and for a moment there, Naruto thought they were going to start yelling at him. Naruto had his eyes, prepared for the scolding or even beating he was about to receive.

"Whatever..." Kiba said, glaring at Shino.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. Chouji said nothing as he was eating some chips.

"We're already used to it..." Sasuke stated, putting the straps of his bag on his shoulders.

"Alright then," Kurenai said, "Let's get going! It till take us about three hours for us to get there by walking."

The three Gennin team exited the village and started making their way towards their destination. The senior Gennin team led by Gai were on a mission so they could not come along. On the way, they met several ninjas that the Jounin-sensei's knew and they told their students stories of their missions.

Sasuke was not really in the mood for a holiday, whatsmore to a hot spring. He wanted to stay in Konoha and do missions, or train or anything else except taking this vacation. He's an Uchiha after all, so to him, Uchiha's did not need any rest. Naruto of course noticed Sasuke's mood and patted him on the shoulder.

"Cheer up!" Naruto exclaimed, "Out of all of us, you're the one that needs to rest up the most after the beating you received by Kankurou!"

"What the hell do you mean?" Sasuke replied angrily, "I beat that puppet brat!"

Naruto grinned, "I know, but you had to receive several knocks in order to do that. You were even forced to use Chidori just to destroy the two puppets he was using before you beat him. So, that's enough training and it's time to enjoy!"

Before Sasuke could utter a word, Maki stepped in, "Naruto's right, Sasuke. It's true that you can use the time to train and do missions, but a ninja needs time to rest also. We're all humans and the body needs to rest in some time or another."

"Fine..." Sasuke muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and brooding just like how he always did in the past.

The rest of the journey, everyone talked with one another regarding different subjects with the exception of Asuma and Kurenai who were engrossed with one another. It made the trip less boring and it took those hours before they reached the hot spring inn. There were others there too to try out the new resort but luckily, the Jounin sensei's had already booked rooms for themselves and their team.

"Hei," Asuma was now next to Maki, "Is it true about the recent attack I heard?"

Maki nodded, making sure his students were outside the hearing range, "It's true."

"Namato Shuya?"

Maki hesitated for a second, "We have no evidence if it was him but there is a high chance since last we heard, he's the leader of that group. Let's not trouble our minds with these thoughts and focus on the mission."

Asuma backed off and walked next to Kurenai once more. Asuma knew that Maki did not want to talk with about his former sensei since Maki was quite attatched to him in the past and was devastated by his betrayal. As a matter of fact, Maki had encountered him in a mission sent to capture him but the mission was a failure with the death of an elite Jounin and Maki bruised and injured.

Since Asuma and Kurenai were still busy chatting, Maki had to be the one to speak to the attendants regarding their reservation. To Sasuke, the inn had the same designs as his house and somehow, it brought back some wonderful memories regarding his past. Sasuke smiled and was lucky to go unnoticed by his team mates.

"Do you think Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei are dating, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered.

Sakura bonked Naruto at the back of his head, "Isn't it obvious?"

Naruto looked at Asuma and Kurenai. The two were conversing with one another, laughing every few seconds. In Naruto's point of view, they just look like two normal friends enjoying another's company but Naruto could sometimes be a little slow in these sorts of matters. After two minutes, Maki finally had their rooms and gave the keys to each of their respective team.

After Maki had given the keys to his team, he handed one key to Naruto and the other, he kept for himself, and "Sakura's staying with me while you and Sasuke share the other room?"

"Eh?" Naruto whined, "Why not? The other teams are sharing rooms with each other."

"Obviously, his doesn't trust you." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"I also don't trust you," Maki said to Sasuke, "Leaving two boys alone with Sakura? Not while I'm here!" Sasuke's eyes twitched when Maki said that.

"But the other teams are all sharing a room!" Naruto protested, "How come we have to be in seperate rooms?"

Maki popped a vein on his head, holding in his anger, "That's because I paid extra for it, so if you want to get your ass kicked, I suggest you follow my orders!"

Naruto grumbled the whole way, draggin his bag with him. The people around the inn were snickering watching the whole arguement between a student and a teacher. Sasuke walked alongside his blonde team mate and he could see that Naruto was not pleased with his teacher's decision. However, what Maki said did make some sense but decided not to take any sides.

Since it was stil early in the morning, the Konoha ninjas decided to rest inside their respective rooms until it was time for lunch. Although they have larger amount of stamina compared to normal people, they were quite tired from the journey. Asuma and Kurenai took the opportunity to have their own time privacy, taking a walk in the nearby woods close to the inn.

Shikamaru was sitting on a tree branch, looking up at the clouds. It was an hour before lunch and knowing Chouji, he was probably awaiting for the food's arrival. Shikamaru shook his head, laughing a little thinking about his friend. Shikamaru felt someone's presence and looked down to find Kiba there.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked in a bored tone.

"I'm accompanying Shino over there," Kiba replied, pointing with his thumb at Shino who was collecting bugs on a tree, "Besides, I can let Akamaru have a walk while I'm at it."

Akamaru barked upon hearing his name, "That's right boy," Kiba said patting his head, "I'm assuming you're still up to your old habits?"

Shikamaru nodded, looking up at the sky, "It's relaxing to look at the clouds."

Kiba watched Akamaru running around happily and took a seat below Shikamaru's tree branch. Honestly, this was what he needed ever since the invasion occured, a well-deserved break. Since Kurenai's team were more of a scouting force, their team were forced to do missions regarding with scouting and that was almost every day, and it really drained Kiba's stamina and Akamaru's too. This trip to the hot spring should help him recover.

Naruto and Sasuke took this time for a spar in the woods and honestly, they were enjoying themselves. Normally in Konoha, they were only allowed to use training ground number seven and that area had little trees so they could not use the trees for any advantageous use. But here, Naruto and Sasuke were able to lay traps and other sorts of attack or defense.

"Is that the best you got, dobe?" Sasuke said as he hid behind a tree, hearing three kunai's plunging at the bark of the tree.

"I'm not done yet!" With that, Naruto formed seals for a Wind technique.

Sasuke laughed as he jumped out of his hiding place, engaging Naruto in Taijutsu, thus not allowing Naruto to complete his seals. Naruto and Sasuke never had so much fun in sparring before and wished that they could keep this up forever.

At the inn, Maki was lying down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He still could not believe about the scouting mission he had three weeks ago. It was finally confirmed that it was the 'Reapers' that attacked Konoha's outpost and Namoto Shuya, Maki's former sensei was most likely in charge of the attack.

Sakura could see that her uncle seemed to be deep in thought. She was reading another one of her romance novel and tried to read it, but she just couldn't ignore her uncle. Sakura sighed and closed her book, putting it on a nearby table.

"Uncle Maki, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

Maki turned to Sakura, smiling, "Of course I am. I'm just stressed with the missions that I've been receiving recently, that's all."

Maki got up from his bed, "Come on, it's lunch time. Let's get the others."

Sakura nodded and followed her uncle. However, deep down Sakura knew that Maki was lying. In the past three weeks, Maki was only given two missions, and they were C-rank since he had to do it with his team. Obviously, there was something else bothering him but Sakura decided not to push the issue.

**Evening time at the hot springs...**

"Cannon ball!" Kiba yelled as he jumped into the hot pool, clutching his knees.

"Damn it," Sasuke spat out when Kiba emerged from the water, "If you want to do that so badly, go to a lake or something! The hot springs are meant to relax!"

"Ah, chill out man," Kiba said, walking to a corner and sitting down, "I just wanted to try that out once."

Sasuke muttered under his breath but no one heard it. Currently, all the male ninjas were in the same pool, relaxing and enjoying the warm water. The only male ninja not present was Asuma and he had no problem guessing where he was. Maki was left to handle these brats and he doubt he could do it. Firstly, there was the case of his own student, Naruto and his trouble-making habits. Kiba seems to be in bad terms with Shino and a fight could occur at any time. Maki was glad that Shikamaru should be the only to not cause any trouble.

"Must you eat even when in the bath, Chouji?" Shikamaru asked with his eyes closed. He could hear the sound of potato chips being eaten.

"I can't help it," Chouji replied, "I get hungry all the time."

"Hei, Maki-sensei," Shikamaru asked, "Where are the other two Jounin instructors?"

Maki shrugged, "Beats me. Those two abandoned me and I'm left to take care of you guys."

Shikamaru smirked, "You sure you can actually handle us?" Shikamaru pointed at something behind him. Maki glanced over Shikamaru and saw Naruto looking through a peephole.

"NARUTO!!!"

For the next fifteen minutes, Maki had a hard time trying to watch over all of them. Naruto was of course yelled and lectured and at that same time, Kiba got into an argument with surprisingly Sasuke and the dispute ended with Sasuke casting a weak genjutsu on Kiba with his Sharingan but it was enough to confuse him.

Also, the inn staffs were pretty upset upon finding Asuma and Kurenai in the nearby woods due to complaints from the other guests doing something that should at least have been done in private.

**The next day...**

"Honestly, you dobe," Sasuke said as he walked next to his team mate, "How the hell did you even dare to try and take a peek at the girls when an adult was watching us right in front of us!"

"I thought he was busy talking with Shikamaru." Naruto replied, still feeling the pain on his head given by Maki yesterday.

"I'll never understand you. Your IQ is so low; I wonder how the hell you ever passed the written exam in the academy."

Obviously, the two male Gennins of team seven once again got into another heated arguement and this time, none bothered to stop them. For one, Maki was still having a headache from last night and the others; they have just decided to ignore this.

"We should come here again." Shino said, satisfied by the number of bugs found within the hot springs area.

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE!" Kiba yelled and throughout the whole journey home was a noisy one and both Asuma and Kurenai were busy chatting about the previous night.

**A/N: btw, can any of you please tell me the names of the Sound four? I forgot their names.**

**I remember, Sakon the two-headed guy.. Tayuya is the girl but i forgot the other two.**


	47. Capture of the Uchiha

**Sorry for the delay guys, I was just anxious for my AS results to appear and I could not write. It came out just last week and I was satisfied and immediately started writing. Please, enjoy and review! =D**

**Next chapter, "Pursuit and duel"**

CHAPTER 46: THE CAPTURE OF THE UCHIHA

For three whole months, the village of Konoha continued its daily activities like any other day. The incident about the attack on the Konoha outpost by the 'Reapers' was soon dismissed since they lacked any evidence that the group was responsible for the attack. Even if they were, it was impossible to find their location since they were like nomads, moving from one place to another.

The ninjas of Konoha continued doing missions for the village and the ANBU black opts were now not needed as much when Konoha needed income for the repairs. Of course, Konoha gained some benefits from the invasion. For one, their prestige grew since throughout the ninja lands, everyone heard that Konoha was able to defend their home against an invasion set by two villages, one of them from the five major powers, the Sand village.

Outside the great walls of Konoha, a team of ninjas had just completed a C-rank mission, which was to help retrieve some items from a group of bandits for a merchant. Team seven of Konoha were slowly making their way to the village with Maki carrying the two items while his students led the way.

"When are we going to get B-rank missions? We have been doing C-rank missions for two whole weeks and I'm getting bored of just fighting bandits and accompanying old merchants!" Naruto complained loudly.

"For once, I have to agree with the dobe," Sasuke said, looking at his pink haired teacher, "We are never going to improve if we keep getting these boring missions."

"Fine, fine," Maki replied, "I'll go talk with the Hokage later in the afternoon regarding that matter."

Naruto sighed and continued the walk back to Konoha. The bandits that team seven faced earlier were comprised of six of them, and they were far too easy to be even a threat to them. Sakura, although not really keen in taking lives, had to admit that the bandits were just a waste of their time but the pay that they will receive for the mission will definitely be worthwhile.

It was around noon when team seven finally reached the gates of Konoha and after a brief check by the guards at the gates, they were allowed through. Here, team seven seperated with Maki heading to the Hokage's tower to report of the success of their mission and the three Gennins decided to have lunch together, and unfortunately for Naruto, it was not going to be at his favourite Ramen stand.

As Maki passed through the market area, he waved at a few of the villagers that he recognised and some of his old friends at the academy that had failed at the real Gennin exams. They were now just normal citizens of Konoha, their training at the academy long forgotten. Maki had to admit that he was lucky in being a ninja since he got to fight for his village that he loved so much.

As he entered the Hokage's tower, he noticed Kakashi and two other elite Jounin's walking in a north direction, most likely heading towards the gate. Maki guessed that he had a mission and since he was going with elite Jounins, it had to be an A-rank mission. Kakashi waved when he saw Maki and the pink haired Jounin returned the gesture.

"Come in." Tsunade said as she heard a knock on the other side of the door.

Maki turned the door knob and entered the Hokage's office, "I'm back to report our mission, Hokage-sama."

"Maki," Tsunade greeted and then noticed his underlings were not with him, "Where's Naruto?"

"Ah, they went ahead to grab some lunch or something. I decided to the boring reports."

"Yeah, yeah," Tsunade waved it off, "You can deliver your mission report to Shizune, and she's in the mission hall. I have something else that I would like to discuss with you."

Maki now stood at attention, "Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade opened one of her drawers and took out a bottle of sake that she secretly stashed there. If Shizune was here, she would have taken the bottle and threw it away. Honestly, that girl could be a nuisance to the slug Sannin. Tsunade took a big gulp and then looked at Maki.

"It concerns Naruto..."

Maki cocked his head to the right, now standing behind the Hokage's desk, "Naruto?"

"Jiraiya came earlier and the two discussed what we should do about the current situation. Now that the council knows about the Akatsuki, they would be much more protective or Naruto and pretty soon, they won't even allow him to leave the village." Tsunade said.

"Naruto will never improve in skills if that was done."

Tsunade nodded, "That was what I told Jiraiya and we finally agreed to a solution. In precisely two weeks from now, Naruto will leave with Jiraiya for three years to be trained personally under Jiraiya?"

Maki was surprised, "So Jiraiya was serious that he will take Naruto as his student. But how does that help Naruto? Sure, he'll get stronger but the Akatsuki will still be after him and Jiraiya will be alone."

"They will be travelling and training," Tsunade answered, "From what Jiraiya was able to gather, he found out that the Akatsuki moves extremely slow and with him travelling, they will never be able to get to Naruto."

Maki was trying to process the information for a few seconds, and then he spoke up, "I guess it makes sense and it will help prepare Naruto for the Akatsuki in three years time."

Tsunade took a sip of sake, "Three years was what Jiraiya found out but we have to prepare for the worst. We never know when Akatsuki might grow impatient and decide to gather the hosts a little earlier than what we know."

Maki nodded, "I guess that's true."

"Also," Tsunade added, "Jiraiya wanted me to tell you that you and Kakashi are not to slack off during the three year period. Of course, you will still have to do missions for the village but in your free time, you are to increase your skills."

"What about Gai and the other elite Jounins?" Maki inquired.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "The only reason why the two of you are told about this is because Jiraiya and I trust the two of you, not to mention that the two of you are one of the best ninjas we have, other than the Sannins. Whether or not they train by themselves would be up to them if you bring them along, but you are not to tell them anything regarding the Akatsuki. When the time comes, they'll know by themselves."

"Kakashi was already told about this?" Maki asked, ignoring the praise.

Tsunade nodded. Maki asked once again, "And what of Naruto's team mates? Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Yes, Jiraiya had also thought about that. Seeing that Sasuke is targeted by Orochimaru for his next vessel, it would be best that Sasuke be trained so that he can take care of himself. We think that Kakashi should train him for the first year, training him in Ninjutsu and then leave Taijutsu to Gai. He can still go on missions with you, but since Naruto will be gone, that will be rare."

"And Sakura?"

Tsunade took out a sheet of paper and read it silently. Without looking up, she answered, "Yes, I've been reading the mission reports and the profile of Sakura, your niece. It says here that although not very talented in the Taijutsu field, she is excellent in Genjutsu and extremely good chakra control."

"Yeah, in the beginning I wanted her to become a medic-nin but the two of us agreed to drop the idea since we had no one to teach her. So, I decided to teach her some Genjutsu that I knew, and some scrolls that my brother had."

Tsunade was now interested, "Very good chakra control and she is already good in Genjutsu. That's something that would be very good for a medic-nin."

Maki had a confuse look on his face, "Hokage-sama?"

"It's nothing. You can go now, Maki." Tsunade said her expression to be still lost in thought.

Maki bowed respectively and left. Although he used to be a little disrespectful, calling the previous Hokage old man, he dared not to even mention Tsunade's age, especially with her quick temper and her monstrous strength. Maki decided to collect his pay now so that he can leave them to Suyuki to do her shopping for the family.

Tsunade looked at Sakura's profile once more. Normally, a ninja with good chakra control can only be trained in one field and that was either to become a medic-nin or a Genjutsu user. However, Tsunade wondered that if she trained Sakura, who was already good with Genjutsu, she could probably be the first medic-nin that can use Genjutsu. It will be the ultimate medic-nin since Sakura would be able to use Genjutsu to attack and not to mention Tsunade can train Sakura using chakra to increase their punches. Tsunade decided from there that Sakura would be a perfect apprentice. She decided to take her up, but not yet.

Tsunade was also worried about the conversation she had earlier with Jiraiya. She had not told Maki everything regarding their conversation. If she did, Maki would have probably turned into his worried state once more.

**Flashback**

Jiraiya grinned mischievously as he stood outside the window of the Hokage's office, looking at the back of his old team mate. Tsunade obviously felt his presence after years of experience from his attempts at peeping on her. Jiraiya sneakily opened the window.

"What do you want, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked without even turning.

"Hoh, you could tell?"

"I wouldn't be the Hokage that easily if I couldn't."

Jiraiya smirked, "At least you finally accepted that you're the current Hokage."

"No point to keep denying it anyway. The old man's not going to return to the post of Hokage now that I am. He's just a council now."

Jiraiya laughed and stood in front of Tsunade now, looking down at her. Until now, he had never succeeded in peeking at Tsunade ever since Tsunade found out he was a pervert, and a sneaky one at that. However, he never stopped trying and it sometimes helps give him some ideas for his novels.

"So, what brings you here, Jiraiya? I doubt it was for a social call?" Tsunade questioned.

"You always get right to the point." Jiraiya replied, taking a seat, "And no, it does not concern the bastard Akatsuki, but their target."

"Naruto...?"

Jiraiya nodded, "I made some research regarding the seal that the fourth placed on Naruto. Although compared to the seal used on Gaara, the Sand's Jinchuuriki, the seal on Naruto is far stronger. But it seems that the seal weakens with time and could get worse in a couple of years."

"That is bad... So, what can we do about it?"

"Luckily," Jiraiya assured, "I am quite efficient in the arts of seals. I studied the seal the fourth placed on Naruto and although I think I can be able to strengthten the seal, the seal will still fail one day."

"So it's just delaying the inevitable?"

"Not really," Jiraiya replied, "It is true that strengthtening the seal is just delaying the inevitable, but so long as I continue to do so, the seal will last for a more than sixty years. Naruto would be an old man by then, and I'm sure someone can use seals far more advanced than me by that time."

Tsunade smiled, "That's good then."

The two glared at one another for a moment, neither of them saying a word. Tsunade could tell that Jiraiya wanted to say more, but there was something stopping him. Jiraiya thought about it and decided to just tell her.

"I'm taking Naruto to be my student." Jiraiya said matter-of-factly, "For three years, I will train him to prepare himself for the Akatsuki."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "Do you really think that three years would be enough to go against S-rank criminals like Itachi? They are basically around our level and..."

"I know," Jiraiya interjected, "But it should be enough. Naruto is not a normal ninja. He's got the nine-tails within him which gives him a large amount of chakra supply. That can speed things up in his training and not to mention he's got the determination like his father."

"Yes, he certainly does..." Tsunade agreed while smirking.

"I got to go now," Jiraiya said, walking towards the window and heading out, "I'll return in two weeks time. I need find out the latest on Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Until then, keep Naruto safe." Jiraiya then remembered something, "Oh, and do not tell Maki or Kakashi about the seal weakening, especially to Maki since he's the teacher."

Tsunade nodded and watched as Jiraiya jumped on a giant toad and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Knowing her old comrade, he probably headed off to Mount Myobokuzan first to prepare himself for whatever information gathering mission he was on.

**End of flashback**

Shizune entered the Hokage's office after completing her errand that the Hokage had given her. She looked at the desk and could see that Tsunade was working on her paperwork, a sight that was as rare as an eclipse. Despite that, Shizune could tell that Tsunade was deep in thought.

'Tsunade-sama...' Shizune thought worriedly.

**Elsewhere in Konoha...**

"One more, old man!" Naruto ordered happily, handing Teuchi the bowl he just finished.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi said happily, taking the bowl and heading to the back of the store.

Sasuke and Sakura were eating their lunch quietly and were only on their bowl at the moment while Naruto was waiting for his fifth one. The three ninjas were the only ones in the Ramen stall taking their lunch over there thanks to Naruto's insistence to eat there. Besides, it was cheap too so it wasn't so bad for them.

Outside the stall, they could hear the sound of footsteps everywhere as the villagers and merchants head off to take their lunch break. It was at noon when these stalls and restaurants around Konoha make the largest amount of profit. In the evening, the profits were still a lot but could not compare to the ones made at this time. Even ninjas that were on duty would stop by to take a quick lunch.

Sasuke wiped his mouth with a tissue as he finished his first bowl and had to say that it was surprisingly delicious. He could see why Naruto liked this place but he doubted he would have come here on a regular basis. He ordered a second time and tried to hold his stomach as Naruto ate greedily on his sixth bowl. He held no doubt that as long as Naruto was the customer here, this Ramen stall would never run out of business.

"So, are you all free today from missions?" Ayame asked Sakura since she had finished her meal and was clearly full to not order another one.

"We just finished a mission an hour ago," Sakura replied, "But it tends to get boring."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Because the missions we receive are too boring," Sasuke answered, "We want more difficult missions. We have completed more than ten C-rank missions in one month and we are getting really bored."

Ayame giggled, "Perhaps you should try appealing to the Hokage."

Naruto tried to say something but his mouth was full. Everyone looked at him and he had to swallow his food first, "Are you crazy, Ayame-nichan?! That old woman beats up anyone that tries to go against her wishes!"

"Really?" Ayame said, her voice astonished, "But she seemed to be such a nice lady."

Naruto was about to say something again but Sakura stopped him from what he was about to say. The three continued with their lunch which took another seven minutes before they had to pay their bill. Unfortunately for them, Naruto's costs were so much that even when the three of them combined their money, it was still not enough to settle for Naruto's meal. Luckily for them, Teuchi allowed Naruto to go off but he had to pay Teuchi back when he came next time.

"Man," Naruto said, walking out of the stall with his arms at the back of his head, "I should have collected my money from the mission hall first before we had lunch."

"Idiot," Sakura scolded, "It would have been enough if you had just ordered three bowls but seven? How can you eat Ramen everyday and order more than five bowls and not get sick of it?"

"Just leave him be," Sasuke sighed, "That's the reason why he's a dobe, because he eats too much of noodles that it's messed up his head."

"Shut up!" Naruto retorted, glaring at Sasuke, "If I was a dobe, how can I be leading by one win in our sparring matches?"

"We're even you idiot," Sasuke replied angrily, "The last time we sparred didn't count because Maki-sensei called for us to stop but you didn't hear him and got the blow."

"But..."

"He's right, Naruto," Sakura said, siding with Sasuke, "Besides, it's not like you're below by one point. The two of you are equal now."

Naruto was not satisfied though, "Fine, what about we have a spar later around five? We'll meet at the gates an hour before that."

"Why the hell do we need to get there an hour early?"

"To train before we spar. It has been a long time since we trained together as a team." Naruto stated, grinning broadly.

Sasuke and Sakura both stared at the blonde ninja. It was true that it had been a long time since team seven got together for a training session. One reason was that Maki had no time to organise one since he had been busy with missions and when he returned, he was too tired. It was Naruto now that took the initiative.

"Fine," Sasuke said, smirking, "We'll meet up here at the gates at four. I'll see you later dobe."

Naruto and Sakura watched on as the young Uchiha walked away, most likely to the residents of the abandoned Uchiha compound. Sakura held Naruto's hand and the two smiled, deciding to spend the rest of the day together before they had to meet up with Sasuke.

**Uchiha compound**

Four figures were gathered at the rooftop of an Uchiha building, planning on how to capture their target. They had infiltrated Konoha successfully and were able to stay hidden from patrolling guards. They were excellent in concealing their chakras and thus, excellent for infiltration missions.

"When the fuck will that idiot get his ass back here?!" Tayuya said with an annoyed tone, looking around for Sasuke.

"Lower your voice," Jiroubu cautioned, "We don't want any of the patrols to come after us."

"Does it look like I give a damn?" Tayuya spat, "Honestly, why the hell do we have to retrieve a stupid twelve-year old Gennin?!"

"Because Orochimaru-sama ordered us to do so!" Sakon said, glaring at Tayuya, "And if you have a problem with that, you'll personally answer to him."

Kidomaru chuckled, "She doesn't have to. Kimimaro would be enough to take care of her."

"Shut your mouth, you freaking spider!" Tayuya was getting pissed from being ganged up.

"Quiet," Sakon ordered, "The Uchiha's here."

The four of them spotted Sasuke entering the Uchiha compound and making his way to his house. The Sound four already had all the information they needed about Sasuke so they knew when and how to strike. When Sasuke entered the house, the four of them made their move, jumping off the rooftop and seperating from each other.

Sakon and Tayuya were entering from the front since these two techniques were able to be synchronised properly. With Sakon's ability to use two bodies and Tayuya using summons, these two worked best with each other. Sakon entered first and could sense Sasuke upstairs. Sakon gestured for Tayuya to follow and for once, she obeyed. Jiroubu waited outside on the roof while Kidomaru at the back so Sakon and Tayuya were the main front.

Sakon took out a kunai and looked up the stairs. Sasuke still had not yet noticed the intruders and this just benefited them. Sakon went ahead and took the first step on the fleet of stairs. However, something started to burn and it was coming from underneath him. Sakon looked down to realise what it was.

"Shit!" Sakon cursed as the exploding tag exploded.

Sakon received most of the blast and was already injured badly. Tayuya cursed loudly and checked up on him. Sakon could barely move and had to use his other body. Ukon appeared and Sakon took the opportunity to heal and recover. Tayuya took out her flute and sensed a chakra's presence above her. Sasuke stood there, looking down at her with the eyes of the Sharingan.

"Get out of my house, you filthy Sound ninja!" Sasuke shouted, kicking Tayuya right in the face and sent her out of the house, destroying the front door in the process.

Ukon grunted in pain since he also received a little of the explosion and charged forward. Sasuke was able to predict Ukon's movements easily and when Ukon was about to attack Sasuke with his kunai, the young Uchiha ducked and kicked Ukon by the ankles, sending Ukon crashing on the wooden floor. Sasuke threw a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag next to Ukon and the purple-haired ninja was too slow to react.

Unfortunately, Kidomaru had entered the house the moment he heard the explosion a few seconds ago and spotting Ukon on the ground, he used a web technique and grabbed Ukon just as the exploding tag exploded. All of the Sound four were now outside the house, Ukon with Kidomaru and Tayuya with Jiroubu.

'What the hell do they want,' Sasuke thought, taking out a kunai and walking out the front entrance, 'There are about four of them. I can't take all of them, but from the explosion earlier, it should attract some reinforcements. I can take care of them until help arrives.'

Sasuke gave a brave front, "What are you guys, idiots? You come into Uchiha territory and think I don't notice your presence. I've been alone here for ears and I can definitely tell you guys were here."

Tayuya clenched her fists in anger, "Shut the fuck up, you little brat! Just wait till I snap your neck!"

"Hoi, Orochimaru-sama wants him alive." Jiroubu reminded with his hand still in a seal.

Sasuke walked towards Tayuya with a kunai in hand, turning into a defensive stance. Kidomaru and Ukon were now on Sasuke's rooftop, the two looking down at Sasuke's back. Sasuke looked at Tayuya and then at Kidomaru. He was obviously surrounded. He also noticed that Jiroubu still had his hands in a seal.

'Damn it,' Sasuke thought, 'where the hell are they? Didn't anyone hear the explosion?'

Kidomaru chuckled, "If you're planning to wait for help to arrive, you're wasting your time. We have a technique cast around the Uchiha compound so that sound will only be heard within the compound."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, 'That explains it. And from my guess, that big fat orange guy must be responsible for it. Alright, I'll just have to take care of him and then create some attention to get help. It's impossible for me to get out of the compound without taking care of them, so defeating the fat guy is my only solution.'

Kidomaru gathered up chakra to his throat and spat out a web ball infused with chakra. It was as hard as steel and Sasuke avoided it. The web ball created a small crater upon impact. Sasuke turned around to face Kidomaru in mid-air and started creating a set of seals.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Sasuke made sure to use only a small amount of chakra to not destroy his house. Kidomaru saw it coming and jumped away and Ukon did the same. Sasuke smirked. Since Kidomaru was in mid-air, there was no way he was going to avoid the set of shurikens Sasuke was prepared to use. However, a large figure with a club emerged from below. Thinking quickly, the young Uchiha kicked the giant figure in the face and then landed safely on the ground.

Sasuke observed something new now. The woman was now blowing out a tune with a flute, and from what he observed, it was controlling the big summon with the club. He knew this would be trouble since he would now be up against four of them with no sign of help until he beats the fat guy. Sasuke gritted his teeth and prepared a strategy.

"You let your guard down, boy!" A voice said from behind.

Surprised, Sasuke turned around to find an injured Sakon sending a fist to Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke was sent flying and crashing on the ground. He had blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth. It seems that Sakon had recovered enough to fight although he was injured. He was now up against six of them. Sasuke growled in anger, his red eyes glaring at every one of them. Since the fight had started, all he was able to analyse was that the four hands spat out powerful ball, the woman had summons, and the purple hair could use two bodies.

"Let's get him!" Ukon and Sakon said, the two running towards Sasuke, Ukon from the left and Sakon from the right.

Ukon arrived first and before he could attack, Sasuke moved first. Sasuke swung his kunai and Ukon blocked it with his own. With Sasuke open on the left, Sakon charged but Sasuke was prepared. He grabbed Ukon's wrist, hopped into the air and kicked him on the side of the neck. Ukon was sent flying towards the charging Sakon and the two crashed against one another, Ukon on top of Sakon.

"Those idiots!" Tayuya snarled in anger, blowing another tune in her flute.

The big figure charged towards Sasuke. The young Uchiha threw three shurikens at the large figure but the shurikens merely bounced off. The large summon reached Sasuke and smashed its club to the ground. Sasuke had jumped up and was now on the large summon's shoulders. From there, Sasuke started creating a familiar set of seals.

"Chidori!"

From the palm of Sasuke's right arm, a lightning ball appeared and it defeated the large summon, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Tayuya and Kidomaru watched in fear as Sasuke charged forward with the lightning ball in his hand. Sasuke could see with his Sharingan that Tayuya and Kidomaru were not going to do anything to stop him. That was perfect and Sasuke targeted Jiroubu, the one person he had to defeat to get reinforcements. As Sasuke neared Jiroube, he lunged into the air to deliver the killing blow.

Blood splattered on Sasuke's shirt and face, the Sound four looking at the scene before them. Jiroubu had moved at the last minute and used his arm to take the blow. The sound barrier technique was disabled and Sasuke had his hand gone right through Jiroube's right arm. Jiroube gritted his teeth in pain and using his free left hand, grabbed Sasuke by the neck.

Sasuke grunted in pain, surprised by the sheer strength in his hand. Sasuke was fighting for breath until he felt something tie his legs. He looked down and realised it was Kidomaru's web and not only did it act as a rope, it was also sucking out chakra from Sasuke.

"This brat's tougher than I thought." Sakon commented as Ukon entered the body to rest.

"You alright?" Kidomaru asked Jiroube, looking at the injured arm.

Sasuke felt insulted that these four ninjas were discussing with one another while he was still struggling to escape the grip. However, that was nearly impossible with his chakra growing weaker and weaker. His Sharingan was no longer active and he could feel he was losing counsciousness.

"I'm okay," Jiroubu assured, "It hurts like hell, but I'm sure Kabuto-sama can heal it. As long as we got what Orochimaru-sama's target, it will be alright."

"Right," Kidomaru agreed, looking at the walls of Konoha to the west, "We had better go soon. With the sound barrier disabled, we don't want to engage in any battle."

'Orochimaru?' Sasuke thought, 'That bastard is after me? Damn it, I don't need him. I'm a ninja of Konoha!'

"Alright, let's put him into the container and seal it." Sakon said as he took out a scroll and released it the seal, revealing a large container.

'Naruto... Anyone... Help...' Sasuke thought as he finally lost counsciousness.

**At an alley in the Uchiha compound...**

None of the four Sound ninjas or Sasuke noticed that Koutetsu had witnessed the whole fight. Althogh he did not hear the explosion earlier, he was in patrol duty and decided to patrol the Uchiha compound to check up on Sasuke. Imagine his surprise to find four ninjas ganging up on Sasuke and to make it worse, they were Sound ninjas. In the beginning, he had wanted to help Sasuke but realised that if he did, there was a chance that the two would still lose. And if that happened, Sasuke would be captured and no one would alert the Hokage regarding Sasuke's capture.

Koutetsu witnessed the four ninjas putting Sasuke into a large container and then sealing it with some black tape. No doubt, they had placed some chakra into the tape to hold Sasuke in if he regained counsciousness. The four ninjas then jumped to the rooftops and then out of Konoha through the walls, undetected.

"Hold on Sasuke," Koutetsu said to himself as he ran for the Hokage tower, "We're coming to get you!"


	48. Departing Konoha

**Hei guys, my god, its been nearly four months since I updated. I won't say i was busy as i had time. But i was just so lazy I nearly gave up the story. Also, the naruto arc at the time was too interesting so I didnt want to write any, haha.. **

**Alright, lets see when the next update is? but next chapter is "Battle for the Uchiha"  
**

CHAPTER 48: DEPARTING KONOHA

"And that's the situation, Hokage-sama!" Koutetsu explained quickly but clearly, "We have to send a team to retrieve him back!"

Tsunade processed the information quickly from the Chuunin, her mind troubled at the same time, "That's the problem. Most of the Jounins are out of Konoha and those that are still here are needed for patrol duties. We cannot leave Konoha defenseless just to retrieve Sasuke..."

"Hokage-sama!" Koutetsu protested, "Orochimaru is behind this here! If he gets hold of Sasuke, he..."

"Don't you think I know that?" Tsunade yelled at the Chuunin, punching her desk into pieces, "We have no available teams. The last Jounin team I assigned was Kakashi's, and his mission was an S-rank mission. He won't be back for the next few days!"

"But this matter cannot be ignored..." Koutetsu insisted, forgetting his position that he was a mere Chuunin telling this to the Hokage.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and the door swung open. Tsunade and Koutetsu watched in silence as Shikamaru and Chouji entered the office, clearly oblivious to the whole discussion between Koutetsu and Tsunade. Shikamaru realised that Shizune was not here and he clearly heard some sort of arguement in here.

"What are you doing here?" Koutetsu finally asked, staring at the twelve-year old Chuunin. Koutetsu felt somehow threatened that a twelve-year old was the same rank as him, who was clearly ten years older than him.

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, sitffling a yawn, "I'm here to receive our new mission for team eight, Hokage-sama."

"Huh?" Tsunade uttered out, clearly confused, "You? Isn't Asuma your team leader?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru answered on the spot, expecting that question, "But he was sent out on a mission yesterday. He told me to come here anyway for a mission and that you would assign us a team-mate for our mission."

Tsunade now remembered that she had sent the son of her teacher on an A-rank mission, somewhere in the country of Snow to assisst a village that was being harrased by well-trained ninjas, reported to be around elite Jounin level. Tsunade rubbed her temples, hating the situation she was in. She now knew why the former third Hokage had wanted to retire from his position at his age.

The fifth Hokage continued to stare at Shikamaru and remembered that the reason why the Nara prodigy was the only one promoted to Chuunin was because of his thinking abilities, which was far superior to a regular Chuunin. Tsunade sighed and finally came to a decision.

"Shikamaru," Tsunade barked, "I'm assigning you to an emergency S-rank mission!"

"S-rank?" Shikmaru repeated in confusion, "Don't you think it's too soon for me?"

"Hokage-sama!" Koutetsu said loudly, "Surely you don't intend to send him to retrieve Sasuke?"

Shikamaru observed the two adults exchanging their opinions about Shikamaru's mission but the Nara prodigy paid no attention to either of them. He wondered what Koutetsu meant by retrieving Sasuke and how come Tsunade would assign him on an S-rank mission. Although Shikamaru knew that the ranking of a mission mostly depends on diffuclty, a mission can be given a high rank mission due to importance even if it only the diffuclty of a C-rank mission.

"...Besides," Tsunade continued, "Sending you on this mission is not possible since none of the ninjas available suits your abilities. A team with no abilities to support one another is like sending a single ninja on a mission. It makes no difference."

"But..."

Tsunade silenced the Chuunin, "My decision is final. Shikamaru," Tsunade looked at the young Chuunin, "I'm going to give you your first S-rank mission."

"And... What is it?" Shikamaru asked nonchalantly. He was intimidated by the fact that Tsunade was going to give him an S-rank mission but this was no time for him to show fear.

"Uchiha Sasuke was kidnapped by Sound ninjas approximately twenty minutes ago. Koutetsu just reported that and I am sending you to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke from the Sound ninjas with any means necessary."

Shikamaru paused, "I'm going alone?"

"No," Tsunade answered, "I want you to select any ninjas that you think will suit you and Chouji as a team for this mission. Although I would suggest getting as many as possible, it would simply slow you down and we need you to catch up with them."

Shikamaru nodded, processing all the information, "Where were the ninjas headed?"

"They climbed the wall to the east," Koutetsu offered, "But judging from the location of the Sound village, they would then head northwards."

"Any Jounins that I could select from?"

Tsunade shook her head, "Unfortunately, all available Jounins are currently away on missions. The other Jounins in the village are patrolling the village and it will waste time to call them back. I have no choice but to say that your choices of comrade are down to Gennins, especially the ones that graduated from the academy at the same time as you."

"No offence to my friends," Chouji said, taking a step forward, "But why them? We're all the same rank and skills."

Tsunade nodded, "Indeed but your group are one of the most talented groups that graduated this year. The feudal lords that witnessed the Chuunin exams were highly impressed. That makes nearly everyone of you a Chuunin rank."

Shikamaru turned and started his way for the door, "I will accept this mission and choose my team members. But pray that we make it back alive, Hokage-sama."

With that, Shikamaru walked out of the Hokage's office followed by the young Akimichi. Tsunade sighed. She could tell that Shikamaru thought of this mission as a suicide mission and in a way, it was. But if the elders found out that their remaining Uchiha heir was kidnapped and Tsunade made no attempts to retrieve him just because of no suitable ninjas, it would be a mess.

Tsunade spun her office chair and stared outside the window. If Jiraiya was here, she would have sent him alone. He could take care of them easily but unfortunately, he was not present and she doubted he would even care to go on the mission to retrieve a mere Gennin. She rubbed her temples in frustration.

'Damn it, why do I have to be Hokage?' Tsunade thought.

**Streets of Konoha...**

Uzumaki Naruto stood by a pillar, watching the citizens walk pass him. He had been standing there for nearly an hour with no sign of his sparring partner. Being optimistic, he thought nothing of it but he knew that Sasuke was strict in discipline and being on time for a sparring match was no exception. Being half an hour late was rare for the Uchiha.

As for Sakura, she would not be coming to spar or train because she already had an appointment with one of her friends. Girls stuff was what she told Naruto. The blonde sighed and stared at the skies. It was times like these that he remembered the days in the academy where he would normally join Shikamaru for some cloud watching. He found this relaxing but never did this regularly like the Nara.

"Seriously, what's taking him so long?" Naruto muttered to himself, checking for signs if Sasuke had arrived, "Maybe he's at the training grounds already?"

The blonde Gennin made the decision to check it out. Naruto remembered telling Sasuke to meet him at their appointed location but he could have forgotten. Naruto scaled the walls and then started sprinting on the rooftops. From here, he could see the training grounds. It was quite a distance away. As he was sprinting, he was surprised to find Shikamaru, Chouji and Neji headed northwards.

"Hei guys!" Naruto called out, waving.

The three Gennins turned to the source of the voice and stopped for a moment. Shikamaru immediately sprinted towards Naruto with a serious look on his face. Naruto guessed that the three had a mission to go to since there are three of them and Shikamaru being a Chuunin would be the leader. Naruto couldn't help but feel a pang a envy and jealousy that Shikamaru was a Chuunin.

"So what's...?" Naruto started to say when Shikamaru neared him.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru interjected immediately, "I need you to come with me now! Emergency mission!"

"Huh?"

"Just drag him along," Neji ordered as he and Chouji continued their way, "We'll explain on the way."

Without further questions, Shikamaru grabbed Naruto by the arm and started sprinting away. Naruto was caught by surprise and barely kept his balance. Shikamaru caught up with the other two and increased their speed of sprinting. It took Naruto a couple of attempts to get their attention.

"Just what the hell is going on?" Naruto asked for the third time, "I have got some other business to do!"

"Sasuke's been abducted." Neji replied nonchalantly.

The reply was too short and quick for Naruto to process the information. After Shikamaru repeated what Neji had said that his brain was able to understand. A million thoughts swam around the blonde's head and none of them were able to make sense of the situation. He shook his head a few times to clear his head but his confusion about what Shikamaru told him still could not make sense to him.

"What do you mean by that? Abducted? By who? When?"

"Exactly what it means," Shikamaru said, glaring at Naruto, "He was abducted precisely two hours ago, in the Uchiha compound. Why no one heard any fighting, we do not know. But from what Tsunade told me, Sound ninjas were responsible of this."

"Sound ninjas?" Naruto immediately thought back about the incident in the forest exams. The Sound Gennins that attacked them to kill Sasuke definitely said they had orders. The mark on the neck of Sasuke was also later found out to be some ninja from the Sound from what Naruto heard, "They're bringing him to the Sound village..."

"That would be the obvious conclusion." Shikamaru stated with a sweat drop.

"Let's hurry then!"

"Not until I recruit Kiba. I need him as part of our mission." Shikamaru explained, which would explain why Neji had his Byaugan activated.

"Kiba?" Naruto repeated, "Why him?"

The young Nara looked at Naruto as if he grown an extra head, "We obviously need him to track them down!"

"Isn't that what Neji is for?" Naruto asked, pointing at the back of Neji.

Shikamaru shook his head as the team entered the Inuzuka compound, continueing on their search, "Neji's Byakugan has a limited range," Shikamaru explained as they turned left, "However, Kiba's nose has nearly no range so long as they still have the scent of the owner."

"But we don't have anything of Sasuke for him to sniff on."

Shikamaru did not reply but took out a forehead protector from his back pouch, "Tsunade had ordered an ANBU team to investigate the area and retrieved this from the Uchiha compound. Sasuke must have dropped it or something, but whatever the reason, this is all we need for Kiba to track them down."

Finally satisfied about the explanation, Naruto continued their search in silence. He wanted to track down Sasuke as soon as possible but if Kiba was needed, then he had no choice. The inhabitants of the Inuzuka compound were annoyed that outsiders were running around in their area but there were some that could detect their urgency in the eyes of the Gennins. Neji finally reached a building and entered it. Kiba was inside the vet clinic.

"Kiba!" Shikamaru called out loudly, "Are you in here?"

Silence greeted the four outsiders. The inside of the clinic was empty except for the occasional sound of the clock ticking in the lobby. It was too quiet for Naruto and he was not used to that. After all, he lived in the centre of Konoha so he was used to noise. Suddenly, a door burst open from one of the rooms.

"Shut up!" Kiba hissed, "You're going to wake the patients up!"

"This is a vet clinic!" Naruto retorted loudly.

"Quiet!" Kiba replied quickly but softly, "Of course we have patients. There are animals here that needs their rest."

Before Naruto could say something that would have taken up more time, Shikamaru interrupted, "Kiba, I need you on a mission."

"Wha...? I can't go on a mission. I have to help my sister today run the clinic and..."

"It's important," Neji insisted, "An S-rank mission."

Kiba blinked a couple of times, glaring at Neji. As it to receive confirmation, he stared at Shikamaru and the young Chuunin merely nodded. Kiba scratched his head for a second and asked, "So I'm needed for this mission or something?"

"Your tracking skills to be more specific," Shikamaru corrected, "Look, no time to explain now. We'll tell you the details on the way to the gate. But we have to go now!"

Kiba hesitated for a few seconds to think about the request. He felt pretty good that they needed him on this mission but he also could tell the urgency of this mission from the tone of Shikamaru. At the moment, Kiba felt he couldn't just leave the clinic alone as his sister was busy even with Kiba's help. But to receive an S-rank mission at his age was an honour. Not to mention that he was curious about the mission details.

"Go ahead," A voice said from behind them. It was Kiba's sister, "I can handle things here."

Kiba nodded and ran to a nearby storage room. Since his family owned this vet, they kept some ninja equipments here just in case there was an emergency. Since Kiba had no time to get back home to get his equipments, this will have to do. When he returned, the five immediately left the vet and went for the gate of Konoha. On the way, Shikamaru as the team leader explained to Kiba the details of the mission and some background information of what had happened.

"So our mission is to track down and retrieve Sasuke?" Kiba asked to make sure.

"Right," Shikamaru confirmed, "With any means necessary."

"Not to sound pessimistic," Neji started, "But sending us five on such an important mission is redicolous. Jounins should be sent for this kind of mission."

"I already told you..."

"I know," Neji interrupted Shikamaru, "I'm just giving my opinion. All Jounins are not available but I am sure the ANBU's should be sent. It can't be that all of them are not available?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Let's just concern ourselves with completing the mission and not something else that does not concern us. Hokage-sama had already assured me that should any of the Jounins return early from their mission or patrol duty, she would send them as backups."

Neji glared at Shikamaru for a few seconds and nodded, leading the team. Shikamaru had already discussed the team's formation. Neji was to be the front as he had the Byakugan therefore, able to spot any traps that lay before them. The second in line was Kiba to back up Neji should his Byakugan fail to detect the enemy's presence by some means of technique. Shikamaru as the team leader was in the middle and with his shadow techinques, he would be able to support his team from all sides. Naruto's position was fourth in line. Due to his large chakra, he can support the team with his large array of Wind techniques and shadow clones. Chouji with the largest physical strength would be the last in line to also support the team.

The five Gennins now stood before the gates of Konoha. As Shikamaru once more explained to the whole team about the details and what he expects of them, Naruto was deep in thought. He remembered all the times he and Sasuke had trained and sparred together, participating in the Chuunin exams, their role in the invasion. He prayed that he could still make it to save him.

"Naruto," Shikamaru called out as the team got ready to move out, "We're leaving."

"I..." Naruto started but stopped and followed his team. 'I wanted to tell Sakura about what's going on, but there's no time. I hope I'll make it back.'

The five Gennins immediately started chakra sprinting from the tree branches. They had no time to lose and Kiba was able to pick up Sasuke's scent instantly. Neji was unable to trace them yet with his Byakugan but from what Kiba told him, they were precisely a hundred kilometres away. If they kept up the pace, they should reach them in two hours. If the Sound team stopped for a rest, it would only take them three quarters of an hour.

Despite the situation, Shikamaru was calm on the outside but he could feel the nervousness in his body. There was a lot of pressure on him since this was his first mission as a team leader. The lives of his team were under his care and failure to secure their lives would be blamed on him. Not to mention about the success of this mision. Although he could have assured himself that this mission had a high chance of failing, his father and Asuma had taught him that thoughts like that are what caused failures in a mission. No, Shikamaru knew that this mission had to be a succeed.

Everyone in the team were quiet throughout their tracking journey. All were preoccupie with their own thoughts. Neji himself hoped he could come out alive. Although he could say that he was powerful and around the rank of an experienced Chuunin, his enemies were definitely at least Jounin level.

'Sasuke,' Naruto thought as he jumped off a tree branch, 'Hang in there!'

**Hokage's office**

Tsunade was lost in thought as she stared outside her office at the buildings of Konoha. As Hokage, all responsiblites were entrusted upon her and she felt that the most important mission under her could result in failure. And failure would bring in a bad reputation to her role as Hokage. Many would have doubts regarding her position since Sasuke was the last Uchiha and losing him would be catastrophic to the future military strength of Konoha. And she had sent a newly appointed Chuunin on the mission. Then again, she had no choice. After the invasion, all ANBU teams were dispatched for high rank missions and patrols.

Shizune stared at the master with worry. She was already told of the situation and could not imagine the dilemma her master must be facing right now. However, a knock on the door took her away from her thoughts.

"Come in..." Shizune ordered and the door opened to reveal two familiar faces.

"Hokage-sama," Sakura greeted, "We're here to report about our patrol duties."

Tsunade did not turn and it was Shizune that replied, "Haruno Sakura? You were on patrol duty? Gennins are not allowed for such tasks."

"I know," Sakura said, smiling, "But uncle Maki said it was okay."

Tsunade upon hearing that turned immediately and sure enough, there stood Haruno Maki and Sakura. 'One of the two top Jounins of Konoha, and even a future candidate for Hokage was actually in patrol duty?' Tsunade thought. Shizune also had the same thought.

"Maki!" Tsunade barked, "I'm sending you on a mission, right now! S-rank!"

Maki gave a surprised look, "That important? And now?"

"When I tell you what has happened, trust me, you're going to go on a heartbeat!"


	49. Battle for the Uchiha

CHAPTER 49: BATTLE FOR THE UCHIHA

Neji's Byakugan continued scanning his surroundings as the team continued on the pursuit. From Kiba's tracking skills, it seemed that they were getting closer to the team. He guessed that they should reach the Sound ninjas approximately in twenty minutes if they kept their pace. Shikamaru had been planning strategies through the whole journey and so far, he had come up with over a hundred strategies for each situation. That was until Neji used a hand sign that told the team to stop.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked in a low voice.

"Ninja wires are hung all over the place hundred metres ahead of us." Neji explained, continueing to scan the area.

"Any other traps?"

Neji shook his head, "It seems that the ninja wires are attatched to explosive tags. They must be pretty close assuming that they would take the time to set these traps. If one of these traps are set off, they'll know we're near and quicken their pace. What do we do?"

Shikamaru thought about his next move while scratching his chin. Disabling the traps would take time which they did not have but going through was risky. Another option would be to use another path to get to their target but that too would waste time, which was what the enemy intended to do. Shikamaru sighed, scratching his spiky hair.

"I think we should go around it..." Shikamaru said at last, turning to look at Neji for his opinion. Neji's facial expressions told him that he agreed.

"But..." Naruto started to protest until Kiba stepped in, "I agree with Shikamaru."

"I know what you're going to say Naruto," Shikamaru added in, patting a shoulder on Naruto, "But disabling the traps will take more time than just going around it. Also, if we go through, there is a risk that one of us will set the traps off and our surprise attack will be down the gutter. We have no idea of our enemies abilities so the only advantage we have once we engage them would be the element of surprise."

Naruto nodded after listening to Shikamaru's logic, "Fine, but let's do it quick."

**Main gates of Konoha**

Haruno Sakura could not believe the events that had just occurred twenty minutes ago. To think that her team mate, the sole remaining heir of the Uchiha clan in Konoha was kidnapped by Sound ninjas. Due to the short notice and sudden mission, Sakura had no time to head back home for her equipment so her uncle had volunteered to retrieve her equipment. Besides, he also had to get his own equipment, which mainly consists of his unique Kunais. What would normally take Sakura ten minutes to get home and return to the gates, Maki did it in three minutes.

"Sakura," Maki called out from a distance but approaching fast, "Get a move on!"

Sakura understood and immediately sprinted out of the gates and then jumped on the first tree branch she saw. From there, she started chakra sprinting from tree branch to tree branch. It took Maki no more than a few seconds to have caught up to his niece from a few hundred metres away. Once he reached her, he controlled his pace and started sprinting at the same speed as her.

"Uncle Maki," Sakura said with a confused voice, "You can just go ahead and catch up with Naruto. I'll just slow you down."

"What you say is the truth," Maki agreed, "But going head on without you would mean leaving you in danger. For all we know, Naruto and his team mates could have been wiped out. If we go together, it would be much easier for us to defeat them. Two is better than one."

"Completely wiped out?" Sakura couldn't hide the shock in her voice, "Naruto won't lose that easily, right?"

"We can only hope, but since Orochimaru personally assigned his underlings to capture Sasuke, I doubt they'll be easy to take down."

"That's why you can head out first!" Sakura exclaimed, "You're one of the top Jounins of the village and..."

"Sakura!" Maki interjected with a stern voice, "Do not take my skills for granted. I may be considered powerful in your eyes and most ninjas, but there are far more powerful ninjas out there. I don't know if these Sound ninjas will be easy to take down, so I'll need you to support me."

"Support you? Me?"

Maki nodded, "Yes. You're a Genjutsu user and I'm more of a Taijutsu and Ninjutsu user. With a Genjutsu user to back me up, I could easily take them down with little effort. Besides, your Genjutsu level is pretty high even if you are a Gennin so that's even better."

Sakura gave no reply but Maki knew that she would agree to support him. He knew she was nervous facing enemy ninjas that could even overpower him. The young Jounin felt he should not have told Sakura that the enemy could beat him but it was just a precaution. Anything could happen. Although Maki was close enough to be near Kage level in three years time, he was not invincible without Kakashi.

Haruno Maki had two nicknames known in the ninja world. Most commonly used was 'The Replicator' but when he partnered up with the son of Hatake Sakumo, the pair became known as 'Twin Kage's.' The two were normally paired up in missions that would normally end up in failure. Even the ANBU black opts would have a chance of a fail but because of the two ninjas abilities supporting one another, they had overcome great odds. Hence, they were known as the 'Twin Kage's.' When the two teamed up, it was almost as if the opponents were facing two Kage leveled ninjas. With Maki's speciality in close-combat and clones to confuse opponents and Kakashi skills of copying enemy techniques and a Ninjutsu specialist, no one was able to beat them. So far, all S-rank missions were easily completed thanks to the two.

Maki wished that Kakashi was with him right now. If the two were on this mission, it would have been a guarantee that they would easily complete the mission and retrive Sasuke. Maki wondered why he and Kakashi were so afraid to attack Orochimaru when the Snake Sannin confronted them when Kakashi placed the seal on Sasuke during the Chuunin exams. The two could have been a match for Orochimaru and the Snake Sannin knew it. That was probably why he attacked them psychologically by claiming that he could easily beat them and thus, demoralizing them.

"Come on Sakura," Maki urged, "We're going to pick up speed."

**With Naruto and the others...**

It took Shikamaru's team a lot shorter than they actually expected to go around the traps. What would have taken an hour to disable the trap, the team only took ten minutes to use an alternative route and then continue on their pursuit. Shikamaru concluded that the Sound ninja probably never expected a Byakugan user among them to analyse the trap and using a different route. The young Nara felt a sense of relief that the Sound ninjas were probably a little too easy.

So far, Neji's Byakugan had not detected the enemy's chakra so they must be pretty far ahead. But according to Kiba, it seemed that the scent was getting closer so that was something to hope on. Shikamaru already had nearly four hundred plus plans on how to strike the enemy but he narrowed it down. Only sixteen of the plans he had would be much more possible to use efficiently.

"I've got them." Neji said suddenly, coming to a stop.

The others stopped their sprinting and landed on the nearest tree branch. Naruto clenched his fists, feeling himself tremble a little. Not from excitement but more to anger. He could not wait to land their hands on them and make them pay for the hell they have put them and Sasuke through. He saw that Shikamaru was once more deep in thought and although his inner instincts told him to go ahead, he held himself back. He knew that Shikamaru was thinking up a strategy and the best possible chance of rescuing Sasuke efficiently would be using Shikamaru's brain power.

"Neji," Shikamaru said, staring at the Hyuuga prodigy, "How far are they? What's their current status?"

"They're precisely a couple hundred metres away north-west of our position. They seem to be unaware of our presence and are currently walking. Should we strike now?"

Shikamaru shook his head, "No, we'll approach them until we're close enough. Once I give the signal, we will use tactic 42-C that I told you about earlier."

Everyone in the group nodded their heads and continued on chakra sprinting but at a slower rate than before. Naruto had to rethink everything about the strategy Shikamaru mentioned. It was one of the plans he told them during their journey and after a minute, he finally remembered. Since they've had finally detected the enemy, and they were in a walking pace, Naruto realized that it was a good plan. However, despite the high chance of success, Shikamaru was worried that it might end up in failure. His friends and comrades lives were in his hands and he held full responsibilty of their lives. Shikamaru looked up at the bright sky and the clouds. How he wished he was a cloud.

The five Gennins continued on their pursuit for the next ten minutes when Neji finally gave the signal to slow down and stop using chakra. Kiba too could tell they were close. Perhaps too close. From what he could smell, he knew Sasuke was definitely among them and not moving. They were moving him. So Kiba concluded that they must be carrying him or something. Kiba sighed, knowing that Akamaru was going to be worried about him. After all, to not bring your most trusted companion as an Inuzuka clan was extremely rare but he was in a hurry. He just hoped he would return home safely after this mission.

"Can you see them from here?" Neji questioned, looking at his team leader.

Shikamaru nodded, "Alright, perfect. They're walking in a square formation, which suits our tactic. We move to positions and attack when I give the command. Understood?" All of his team mates nodded and dispersed to their respective positions. Shikamaru gave one last silent prayer in hopes that none of his friends lives would be in danger.

The Sound four were unaware of the presence of the Konoha ninjas. They expected that any ninjas that Konoha would send for Sasuke would not have the abilities like the Byakugan. Jiroubu, being the biggest of them all, was carrying the container that contained Sasuke.

"How long does it take to get to our meeting place?" Tayuya growled, her patience thinning.

"We're here actually." Sakon replied.

"I don't understand why the fuck we actually have to wait for him here," Tayuya stated, throwing in another curse, "We could just return to the Sound village right now instead of waiting for that miserable prick."

"It's Kabuto-sama's orders. Besides, he's stronger even with the four of us combined. Just in case any thing happens to us, we know that he will be able to handle things on his own." Kidoumaru said, rolling his eyes.

As the Sound four continued on their walk, they were disturbed when they heard weird sounds coming from behind them, although the sound was distant. The Sound four turned to look back and they could hear footsteps headed their way, and the footsteps were definitely more than ten at least. Suddenly, a large number of bodies appeared from the forest, each one of them wielding kunai's in their hands.

"Ambush!" Sakon shouted.

As the Sound four were already prepared four this, they easily got into their formation and prepared a defense as the blonde ninjas got closer. Tayuya quickly summoned her favourite summon, a large creature wielding a club. The summon immediately started smashing the bodies left and right, only for them to disappear in a puff of smoke. Kidoumaru was also busy trying to eliminate as many of their enemies with his webs, but each time he got them, they all poofed away.

"Shadow clones?" All four of the Sound ninjas exclaimed.

"Piercing fang!"

"Human meat tank!"

Sakon saw a large ball coming towards him at great speed and he finally realised what was going on. The shadow clones earlier were not only a means of a distraction but also to lure all of them together so that this ball would hit them all in one hit. Of course, evading it was a piece of cake but that was part of Shikamaru's plan. As all of the Sound ninjas jumped from Chouji's technique, Kiba's piercing fang was headed right for Tayuya, who was defenseless. Sakon knew that was part of the enemy's plan. With all of them busy to avoid the large ball, one of them would be defenseless and he and his comrades could not help Tayuya.

Tayuya watched the ninja spinning around coming at her with great velocity. She knew if this drilling technique was to hit her, it would be a fatal wound that could incapacitate her. The female ninja took out her flute and immediately blew out a tune. The tune commanded her giant summon to appear right in front of her, and it did it right on time as Kiba's technique collided the the giant. Despite the huge size of the summon, the hit was enough to defeat it as it disappeared. Unfortunately, with Kiba and Chouji already using their techniques, they were quickly surrounded by the Sound four.

Kiba and Chouji stood with each others back supporting one another. Kidoumaru spat in disgust, "They're just a bunch of brats. Let's..."

A figure emerged from the forest and landed right in the centre with Chouji and Kiba. The Sound four were surprised by the new comer but realised that he was simply a kid, the same age as the two ninjas that attacked them. Concluding that he was a comrade of theirs, they prepared to finish them off but Neji started spinning before they could do anything, creating a blue shield around him.

"Kaiten!"

Shikamaru grinned as he watched his plan come in fruition. He originally hoped that the first phase would work, that was, Chouji and Kiba's technique would have finished them off in surprise. He had not taken into account that they were prepared so Neji was the back-up. He would save them if he was in trouble in which he did. Now, it was time for phase two, and Shikamaru knew this would work. His strategies always had a second alternative, and it always worked.

"Wind release! Sound of the breeze technique!"

Naruto revealed himself from his hiding spot as he used his technique, a gust of wind coming out of his body. Naruto's technique was useful since whoever that got hit by the wind would be unable to move for at least three seconds and also this technique was being used at it's full potential since it covers a large area of effect and with the Sound ninjas having no place for them to hide, they were vulnerable to the wind. Although Neji, Kiba and Chouji would also be hit by the technique, it did not matter since their enemies would also be unable to move.

The Sound four landed safely on the ground after being blown away by that Kaiten. However, Naruto's timing was perfect and they had no time to recover. The wind touched each and every one of the Sound four which resulted in them unable to move. Shikamaru jumped out of his hiding spot and for the first time, the Sound four finally sees the whole team that had chased them down. Tayuya was especially pissed that they were all defeated by a bunch of brats.

"Shadow bind technique!"

Just as Naruto's wind technique was wearing off, Shikamaru's technique would be the bind to hold them off. Shikamaru smirked at all of them as his shadow caught every one of them and he could now control them. He could feel each one of them trying to control their body, causing Shikamaru to struggle but it was something he could handle. His plan had worked and now for their mission.

"Kiba, Chouji," Shikamaru called out, pointing at the container, "Let's get Sasuke out of here, knock these guys out and get out of here."

"Right."

Tayuya screamed out a bunch of curses that everyone ignored, even the Sound four. Neji himself had to hold his temper because being raised in a strict family, he rarely used such words and was not used to hearing so many in one word. Shikamaru, being the observant ninja as usual, noticed that their enemies were too calm despite their situation. After all, weren't they under direct orders of the person that attacked Konoha a few months back. Do they not fear for their lives? Shikamaru was starting to get worried that they had something up their sleeve.

"Kiba, Chouji, hurry up!" Shikamaru ordered, hiding his nervousness, "The sooner you guys release Sasuke, the faster we get out of here."

"What's the rush?" Kiba asked when he reached the container, "After all, you already have them under your shadow bind."

Sakon started laughing as he looked at Shikamaru, "You're the leader of the team eh? I must admit, you're a very good leader even when your team mates are nothing but Gennins. Not only were you able to concoct a plan to take all four of us down, you noticed our calm expressions."

The words of Sakon piqued everyone's interest, wondering what he meant. Shikamaru was the only one that was thinking on why he was so calm. He wished he could finish the mission of now, but somehow he felt that if they hurried in retreating, they would be caught off guard. It was as if the prey was watching their move, waiting for a mistake. Shikamaru knew that whatever that Sakon guy was happy about, Shikamaru had already fallen into his trap.

"Screw them," Kiba said suddenly, taking out a kunai to cut open a hole to retrieve Sasuke, "Let's just do what we came here for. I need to help my sis run the clinic and..."

"KIBA!" Neji shouted, looking to the north, "Get back!"

Out of nowhere, something lunged from the trees straight for Kiba. The young Inuzuka, despite being agile was too slow to react to anything. The four Konoha Gennins watched in horror as their fellow team mate was stabbed by a type of sword right in the middle of the chest. The sword plunged Kiba right through his chest and was thrown to the bark of a tree. Kiba landed on his side, not moving. Shikamaru stared at Kiba's lifeless body, fearing the worst.

"KIBA!" Naruto called out, no response coming from the Inuzuka.

Due to the schock, Shikamaru released his Shadow Bind technique, thus releasing the Sound four. Shikamaru immediately realised his mistake but it was too late. The four retreated and regrouped together. Naruto and Chouji ignored the enemy and headed for Kiba, calling for him. Neji stared at Kiba, unable to shake the thought that the young Inzuka was already dead. Worse of all, their team had no medic nin to help.

"You sure you took your time!" Tayuya spat angrily to someone in the forest.

"I assumed that you would have no problem beating a bunch of kids, but even that was a troublesome task for you..." The newcomer replied, angering Tayuya more.

"Kimimaro-sama..." Sakon said with respect in his tone, "Thank you for coming. These brats are much better than we expected. Especially their leader, he has the brains for pulling off an attack that caught us all."

The newcomer scoffed, retracting a blade from within the palm of his hand. It was the same sword that got Kiba and Shikamaru found it strange that his sword came from within him. "Let us hurry then," Kimimaro suggested, "Orochimaru-sama is waiting for his new container."

Kimimaro however sensed a large amount of chakra leeking from one of the Gennnins and despite confident of his skills and abilities, the large amount of chakra was terrfying even for him. He turned towards Naruto and saw that his eyes had turned red and whisker marks appearing from his cheeks. His friends seemed to have noticed it too. He called out another blade into his free hand.

'Kabuto-sama did warn me about someone with large chakra,' Kimimaro thought, 'Is this him? Doens't matter though. He may have the chakra but his skills are insufficient from what I have observed earlier on.'

Naruto lunged forwards towards Kimimaro with speed beyond an average Chuunin, his killing intent pouring out of him. Shikimaru did not even have the time to stop Naruto as the blonde ninja reached the Kaguya ninja. The Sound four made no attempts to stop him since they could feel that Naruto's current level was enough for Kimimaro to finish him off. Instead, they went ahead and concentrated on the remaining Leaf ninjas.

Naruto's punch missed Kimimaro by a long shot and the Kaguya heir counter-attacked, hitting the back of Naruto's head with his elbow. Naruto dropped face-first on the hard grass but his anger gave him the power to continue on. Kimimaro was surprised by this since he put enough force into his attack to knock an average Gennin out. He now knew that Naruto was not an ordinary Gennin. He not only had a large amount of chakra but a very high endurance as well.

"You're pretty good," Kimimaro complimented as he avoided another one of Naruto's attacks, "At least much better than you dog friend."

"Shut up!" Naruto screamed, taking out a kunai and attacking with it. Kimimaro used his unique blades to block the kunai.

Neji and Shikamaru were lucky to be only one opponent but Chouji had it tough facing two of them, which were Jiroubu and Tayuya. The young Akimichi already had his hands full going against Jiroubu but with the large summon of Tayuya, he could barely hang on. Neji as a part of the Hyuuga clan that prides in the Taijutsu arts also found it difficult in going against Kidomaru. There were too many hands and his web techniques were annoying. He had to use Kaiten a few times just to get some time force the Sound ninja to fall back.

Shikamaru as the team leader found himself in a predicament. Sakon was an easy opponent even if he split himself in two. However, the most Shikamaru could do would be binding him with his Shadow Bind technique but that would be of little use. He needed to catch all four of them and then let Chouji and Neji concentrate on the new comer. He could also see that Naruto was clearly being dominated by Kimimaro. Kimimaro looked bored and was just waiting for the right moment to finish Naruto off.

"Wind release! Air bullet technique!"

Kimimaro smirked as he easily avoided the technique only to find two Naruto infront of him. He was so surprised that he barely blocked the punch and kicks. He easily sliced the clones off but the real Naruto appeared behind Kimimaro and smashed his fists on the back of Kimimaro. Kimimaro was surprised by the sheer strength of the boy, splurting a small amount of blood.

Kimimaro wiped the blood off his lips, "Not bad kid..."

"CHOUJI!"

Naruto turned to find Chouji smashed by a large club from the summon of Tayuya. The club was so strong that it knocked Chouji out, blood pouring out of his head. Shikamaru cursed loudly realising that his friend could have died or if not, soon from the amount of blood lost. Sakon however kept the young Nara busy and Shikamaru could not rush to his friend.

"This is the end for all of you!" Jiroubu said when suddenly, a kunai whispered through the trees and plunged right into his shoulder.

"What the..?" Jiroubu winced in pain, staring at the strange kunai.

The Sound Four immediately stopped their fights, realising that there may be a new comer. Naruto and Kimimaro continued fighting though. Shikamaru and Neji regrouped, panting from exhaustion. From where Jiroubu stood, a puff of smoke appeared and a clone of a person was created. Jiroubu was surprised by this and the clone was quick that none of the Sound Four could do anything. The clone took out a kunai and without a moment of hesitation, sliced Jiroubu's neck, killing him.

"JIROUBU!" All of the Sound Four screamed in horror.

From the trees, four figures appeared and they were all the same person. They were obviously clones and the Sound Four immediately used their techniques to defeat the clones, not wanting to sufer the same fate Jiroubu. The clones were dispelled after some time and by then, Naruto had already regrouped with Kimimaro. Naruto stared at Kiba's lifeless body and at Chouji's uncounscious form. He could not forgive his enemies for doing this to his friends. He could feel his anger exploding when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax Naruto," Maki said, "Remember what I taught you; that rage will only weaken you in fighting."

Maki himself was angered but he had to control himself. Sakura was busy annalysing the enemy and stood by Naruto. The elite Jounin of Konoha stepped forward, facing Kimimaro. Kimimaro knew who Maki was and for the first time in his life knew that if he fought Maki now, he could possibly die. Still, to serve Orochimaru, he was willing to put his life on the line.

"You bastards..." Maki said with anger, "This will the end of you all. Kidnapping my pupil and injuring my fellow comrades is the last straw." Maki took out one of his famous custom kunai, "Prepare to meet your god, because I, the replicator, will end your lives today!"


	50. Respective Battles

**Alright guys, here is the new chapter and sorry for the delay. I guess I am not as quick as I once was. Thanks guy to those who had reviewed and also to the large number of those who Favourited and Alerted this story. I lost count. There were so many, lol...**

**Alright then, next chapter would be, "Respective battles II"**

CHAPTER 50: RESPECTIVE BATTLES

Haruno Maki could feel rage flowing in his veins as he surveyed the fallen bodies of Chouji and Kiba. Naruto and his friends were already busy trying to check for a pulse to find out if they were still alive. Shikamaru had lost all sense of composure and was close to panic. Maki gripped his custom kunai harder, staring at the Sound ninjas with cold eyes.

Out of the five, the pink haired Jounin could tell that the strongest one among them was the one with the long, white hair. He was calm and did not seem intimidated at all. The other four were much more cautious and not to mention afraid that they would end up easily killed like Jiroubu. Maki had arrived so suddenly and quickly finished the large man thanks to excellent teamwork with his shadow clones. Most shinobis that faced Maki in a one-on-one situation found it hard to beat him due to his use of confusion and even those around the skills of a Sannin would take at least ten minutes at full power to beat Maki due to his clones.

Shikamaru pressed his hand on Chouji's neck, searching for a pulse. The young Akimichi was bleeding badly from his forehead but Shikamaru was glad that he found a pulse. The team leader concluded that Chouji merely lost consciousness. He saw that Naruto was already inspecting Kiba, but from the facial expression of the blonde, he thought that he had lost one of his comrades. Naruto continued searching for a pulse and finally found one on the spot of his neck.

"He's alive," Naruto said softly, "But his pulse is weak. Too weak."

"We have to stop the bleeding," Neji pointed out, kneeling next to Naruto and feeling the wound on Kiba, "I'm not sure if any of his organs were hit, but we will lose him if we do not get medical attention."

Shikamaru felt like pulling his hair. To hear from Neji that Kiba's situation was dire was bad news for him and they had no medical ninjas with them. None of them also brought any aid kits that could have slowed Kiba's bleeding. He was thankful however that the Sound ninjas were not attacking.

"Chouji should be fine," Sakura stated, "But we have to make sure there were no serious injuries to his head. Both of them cannot stay here."

The elite Jounin of Konoha still had two clones with him that he created earlier that helped him kill Jiroubu. Seeing that he had no use for them right now and he still had at least fifteen custom kunai's, he may as well put those clones to good use.

"You two," Maki ordered his clones, but never leaving his eyes of the Sound ninjas, "Take the two injured Gennins back to Konoha. And move fast."

The two clones nodded and picked up the injured Gennins. Naruto continued to stare at his sensei's clones moving quickly on the trees and in a few seconds, had disappeared from his sight. He turned and stared at his enemies, the ones that were responsible for capturing Sasuke and putting two of his friends lives in danger.

"What do we do?" Sakon questioned, taking a step back. He could see that the Konoha ninjas were prepared for a fight and they were at a disadvantage. They had lost Jiroubu and now, amongst the Gennins was an elite Jounin that could easily take them all out. He was not sure if Kimimaro himself could handle him.

"The new container for Orochimaru-sama is still top priority," Kimimaro replied, pulling out a white blade from the palm of his hand, "Even if it costs our lives, we shall deliver it."

Maki narrowed his eyes, finding it strange that this Kimimaro character had produced a blade from his hand. Also, the blade seemed to be not a normal blade. It looked more like a bone from a human body. The elite Jounin realised that this person was a unique ninja, most likely from a clan.

"We can't just run, they'll follow us anyway." Kidomaru pointed out.

"The Gennins should be no problem to you, so I'll take on the Jounin." Kimimaro said, "You three, get the container and run, now!"

The three did not even hesitate for a moment. Sakon took the container containing Sasuke and jumped on the nearest tree branch, sprinting away. His two team mates followed suit, leaving Kimimaro alone. This caught the young Gennins by surprise and Shikamaru did not know whether to give the order to give chase.

"You guys go after them!" Maki barked out, taking out a new custom kunai and moving into an attacking stance. Kimimaro also prepared for battle. "I'll handle him!"

Shikamaru understood and immediately started the chase, sprinting towards where the Sound ninjas had escaped. Naruto, Neji and Sakura followed their leader. Unsurprisingly, Kimimaro blocked their path with his blade prepared to slice the nearest one off, which was Shikamaru leading the team.

"Do not think that I will let you Konoha brats interfere with Orochimaru-sama's plan."

Kimimaro striked for the kill but his blade failed to reach his target. Maki had appeared in front of Shikamaru and blocked the bone blade with his custom kunai. The remaining Kaguya ninja glared at Maki eye to eye, none of the two intimidated by the other. Despite the smaller size of the custom kunai, Maki was able to withstand the pressure that Kimimaro was inflicting on the kunai, trying to break into half and thus, wounding the elite Jounin.

Maki had other plans however. As Shikamaru was about to pass them, he saw that Kimimaro withdrew a second blade for his free hand. He anticipated this and quickly took out another custom kunai with his free hand and pricked a small scratch on Kimimaro's right forearm, drawing blood.

"What?"

The new clone surprised Kimimaro. He attacked Shikimaru but the new clone had blocked it with his drawn kunai, thus failing to stop Shikamaru and the others. Shikamaru looked back at the two adults still standing there, the bone blade and custom kunai still trying to overpower the other. Shikamaru gave a nod of thanks and continued on, his team following him from behind.

'So I was right,' Maki thought, 'He can produce a blade from within his body. I remember hearing of a clan being able to use their bones as a weapon. Is this a member of that clan?'

Kimimaro cursed in his head, not expecting his opponent to suddenly create a clone to nullify his attempt on the young Konoha ninja earlier. Kimimaro had planned to attack Maki and then grip Maki into a battle of trying to break one another's weapon in which he successfully did. However, he was surprised that the small kunai was stronger than it looked.

The clone attacked immediately, sending a fist on Kimimaro's left cheek, throwing the Sound ninja a couple of feet away. Kimimaro could feel the salty taste of blood from his lips. He gripped his two blades tightly, prepared for a fight. He knew that he could finish off Maki with just one swipe of his blade. Despite his weapon being a bone, it was as strong as diamond.

"You're really something," Maki said as the two ninjas glared at one another, "To be able to create a sword from your body is no ordinary trick or technique. You're from a ninja clan, aren't you?"

Kimimaro retracted his blade in his left arm, leaving only his sword in the right arm, "That doesn't matter. I'm the last of my kind so whether you find out what my clan is does not matter."

Maki smirked, "I've no time to play chit-chat with you anyway. I'll make this quick."

"Confident, aren't you? Let's just see what you can do."

Kimimaro raised his left arm with an open palm. Maki watched from where he stood, prepared for any sudden strike. From his fingertips, Kimimaro fired bullets at Maki which caused the Jounin by surprise. It was fast and small so it was extremely difficult to block it so the pink haired Jounin rolled to his left.

Kimimaro was quick though and appeared in front of the Jounin, not giving him any time to regain composure. Kimimaro quickly attacked, aiming for Maki's body but Maki blocked with two of his custom kunai. The two engaged in battle, with each of them blocking the other's attack. Maki however found that Kimimaro seemed to favour this situation and he understood why. His enemy was beginning to see through Maki's moves and was slowly finding an opening. Kimimaro suddenly lunged and grabbed Maki by his vest with his left arm, preventing any movements and went for Maki's neck with his blade on his right arm.

The Konoha Jounin was able to evade the attempt on his life by pushing the blade away with his custom kunai at the last minute. Maki then broke free from the grip and jumped back to get some distance. Kimimaro however sprinted forward to attack.

'So, he is in favour of Taijutsu eh?' Maki thought as he created a set of seals.

"Fire release! Inferno wave technique!"

Kimimaro recognised this technique. This fire technique was weak in power but out of all fire techniques, it was the quickest. Kimimaro barely dodged the incoming fire wave and could feel the heat as it passed by. Kimimaro found Maki on a tree branch, obviously trying to keep it a long range battle.

"Fire release! Grand fireball technique!"

Maki released a large fireball, perhaps around fifteen metres in diameter. Kimimaro narrowed his eyes in frustration and ran from the fireball. The ball of fire missed obviously, but the Kaguya knew it was just a distraction. When he turned back, he saw Maki's custom kunai flying at him with incredible speed.

He moved his head to the left on time as the kunai flew past by him, cutting a few strands of his hair. The custom kunai landed on the cold ground, which Maki took note. He still had thirteen custom kunai's, which was enough to beat Kimimaro. The silver haired Kaguya retracted another blade for his left arm, turning serious.

"Two swords eh?" Maki taunted and then formed a seal, "Release!"

Kimimaro's eyes turned wide open when he heard the familiar sound of a poof. The custom kunai he had avoided a few seconds ago had created a shadow clone, which was what Maki had planned. The clone kneed the Kaguya in the gut, causing him to drop on his knees, blood dribbling from the sides of his mouth. The clone then extracted a kunai and went for Kaguya's head, but Kimimaro blocked the kunai with his left blade and destroyed the clone with his right blade in a counter-attack.

"Die!"

Kimimaro turned around to find Maki suddenly close to him. Kimimaro stared in horror at Maki as the Konoha elite Jounin had produced another of his custom kunai and went for his chest. Kimimaro had no time to block it or move away so he did what he thought could save him.

Haruno Maki thought that the battle was over now. His clone had caused a distraction, once again proving his reputation of replication. However, just as he was about to plunge his weapon into the last Kaguya ninja, he realised that he hit something hard. He stared in confusion at what it was. Kimimaro swung his blade in an attempt to chop Maki's head off but the Konoha Jounin had blocked it with his custom kunai and then hopped back to get some distance.

"A close one," Kimimaro said in relief, "If it were not for my Kaguya body, I would have died."

Maki stared at where he attacked earlier and realised there were a couple of sharp bones poking out of his body, "You created... a shield for your body?"

Kimimaro laughed, enjoying the confusion of his opponent, "They act as my ultimate defense. These bones are hard as metal and I can create all of these around my body."

Maki sighed in frustration as he watched his enemy summoning more bones from his body to act as a shield. Not only were they hard, they were sharp. If he got too near Kimimaro, his bones could easily wound him. Maki wondered how he was going to defeat him now that all these bones were in the way of killing him with his kunai. And not to mention that Kimimaro was now using two swords.

'Looks like I'll have to be on the defensive until I figure out how to attack him.' Maki thought, gripping his custom kunai.

Kimimaro got into a stance and then whispered, "Wind dance techinque..."

**With Shikamaru**

"We're catching up!" Neji exclaimed, his Byakugan activated.

The four Konoha Gennins were still on the chase but it seems that they now had the advantage of numbers. The Sound four had lost one of their team mates and now, they had Sakura who was still fresh for a fight. This should be easier for them to complete their mission. Despite this, Shikamaru was still troubled about his injured comrades earlier. Kiba had a very weak pulse and his life was obviously in danger. Chouji himself was injured after being hit in the head by that huge club.

The chase continued on for another ten minutes until Neji gave the sign to slow down.

"Why are we slowing down?" Naruto questioned, turning towards the Byakugan user.

"They're waiting for us," Neji replied, "They have stopped trying to run away and are precisely only a hundred metres away." Neji turned at Shikamaru, "What do you propose?"

Shikamaru bit his thumb lightly, beginning to think on what his next move was. This was like Shougi when he had to contemplate on his next move. However, this time the Shougi pieces were his friends and he could not throw away their lives.

"If they're waiting for us, then we meet them face-to-face!" Naruto exclaimed.

Shikamaru sighed, "For once, I have to agree... I doubt they have anything planned and I have a feeling that the ninja earlier was their only backup. We have the greater number and our skills compliment each other."

"Alright then, let's go." His three subordinates said together.

They spotted the three Sound ninjas in a clearing, where there were much fewer trees in this part of the forest. Neji kept note that the one with four hands was holding the container which Sasuke was in. Shikamaru stepped forward towards the leader, the one with the two heads.

"I highly doubt it, but are you going to hand Sasuke over to us?" Shikamaru spoke first.

Sakon laughed, "You know how to joke, Konoha brat! But we would rather die than fail in this mission."

Shikamaru raised an eye brow, "So, it looks like we will have to fight then."

"Exactly what we wanted," Tayuya said from behind Sakon, "The only way to get rid of you little bithces is to kill you!"

Without any further words shared, the two group of ninjas clashed against one another. Kidomaru was still carrying the container as he engaged Naruto. The demon fox container continued sending fists up to the point that Kidomaru had to jump on a tree branch to gain back some momentum. Naruto quickly formed a set of seals.

"Wind release! Vengeance blast!"

A large wave of air charged towards Kidomaru at incredible speed. Kidomaru barely evaded the technique and was surprised that the technique was not only quick but it also covered a large area. He could feel a large cut on his left arm, blood speeing through the wound. Unfortunately for the spider ninja, he was too pre-occupied with his wound that he did not realise Naruto was in front of him.

The young blonde gave a powerful uppercut, blood splurting out from Kidomaru from the impact. Still in mid-air, Naruto grabbed Kidomaru and threw him to the ground. Kidomaru smashed into the ground, the debris of the ground flying up into the air. Naruto landed on the ground, unable to see his enemy through the thick cloud of dust. From where he stood, he saw three kunai's filled with explosive tags entering the cloud of smoke, exploding where Kidomaru should have been.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled out, "Are you trying to kill Sasuke along with him?"

"You were so busy fighting that you didn't notice him throwing the container to that woman there?" Sakura yelled back, pointing towards Tayuya.

Sure enough, the container was next to the woman as she played her flute. Shikamaru was in a bit of a drag as he evaded two large creatures with weapons. In this situation, he was on the losing side as his shadow bind technique would be useless. Naruto quickly went up to help him, throwing a wave of shurikens to get the monsters attention.

Neji himself had no problem with Sakon as he laid another Jyuuken on the chest of Sakon, resulting in a large amount of blood coughed out. Sakon winced in pain and jumped back, throwing a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag. Neji quickly spun around, a ble shield forming around him.

"Kaiten!"

The kunai got deflected like a ball bouncing off a wall. The kunai landed in a tree and exploded instantly, destryong the tree into smithereens. Sakon hid behind a tree, holding onto his chest. He could feel the pain in his body and guessed correctly that Neji's Jyuuken attacked his inner organs. He quickly substitued with his other body, Ukon, so that he could recover.

Neji watched the whole scene as his Byakugan easily spotted Sakon, somehow substituting with another body identical to his own. Ukon then jumped out of his hiding spot, standing next to Tayuya now. The two looked at one another and nodded. Ukon got hold of the container and the two jumped away, retreating.

"Hei!" Naruto called out, surprised by the sudden retreat, "Come on, let's go!"

Shikamaru growled in anger, realising that the enemy's plan was to just delay more time in hopes of reinforcement and forcing them to use chakra. Shikamaru should have seen it. He cursed inside his head but also told himself to keep calm as he needed to analyze any information he could. He led the team on another chase when suddenly, a large net appeared before them.

"It's filled with chakra," Neji informed the team, "Don't go near it."

"You won't pass," A voice said. The Konoha Gennins realised it was Kidomaru, who was left behind. Shikamaru knew that this guy was buying his team mates time, which was a good plan. They needed to finish him off quick, but he knew it was not going to be easy.

"His chakra has increased dramatically..." Neji said softly, his Byakugan activated.

Naruto could not recognise the man before him. Just a few minutes ago, he was but a normal ninja with extra hands but Kidomaru now looked like a monster. He had two horns poking out of his forehead, his eyes black and his skin had changed colour.

Kidomaru smirked at himself, knowing that at his current state, although he would still lose, he could buy Sakon and Tayuya at least ten minutes, enough time to get away and hopefully escape from the borders of Fire country. Naruto took out a kunai, feeling his blood boil at being delayed. The young blonde was just about to lunge forward when Neji beat him to it, facing the Sound ninja.

"You guys go on ahead," Neji declared without looking at his team mates, "I'll take care of him."

"What...?"

"Go!" Neji said with more force, "We have to get Sasuke. He plans to delay us but if I stay and take care of him, we won't waste time."

"Neji..." Shikamaru closed his eyes, not wanting to make this decision. However, what Neji had just said was true. They needed to retrieve Sasuke and them being delayed was what these Sound bastards would want. In ten seconds, he made a decision.

"Neji, you better be alive when we return," Shikamaru offered softly and then turned back, "Let's go..."

Shikamaru jumped towards the next tree branch, followed by Sakura. Naruto stood there for a moment, watching Neji's back. Despite being on a hurry to save Sasuke, Neji was also a friend. This was the person he had fought in the Chuunin exam, the one who had selfishly claimed that he was the most powerful Gennin in all of Konoha. Yet, here he was, putting his life on the line for the success of the mission.

Neji could feel the gaze of Naruto and also because his Byakugan could see him. Without turning to look back at the blonde ninja that changed his opinion of life, he gave a thumbs up. Naruto stood there another few seconds and then left Neji behind, knowing deep inside him that the Hyuuga prodigy would be alright.

Hyuuga Neji released a puff of air from his lungs, trying to not get nervous. This was the very first time that he was putting his life on the line. In previous missions, he could always dispose the ninjas that he faced but this one was far stronger than him. Neji could tell from the large chakra. But if Naruto could beat him in the Chuunin exams when he was the better one, Neji saw no reason why could not do the same.

**With Maki...**

Kimimaro's bone blade came into contact Maki's custom kunai yet again as the pink haired Jounin blocked an attack on his left. Kimimaro attacked with his left arm, which also had another bone blade in an attempt to slash Maki's right shoulder. Maki saw that and was able to block it again and quickly counter-attacked. His kunai merely got deflected by bones from his abdomen, once more failing to defeat the Kaguya ninja.

In their last six minutes, Maki would have won already but Kimimaro's ultimate defense proved it's usefulness by deflecting all of Maki's attacks. The pink haired Jounin was growing frustrated from the fight, forming a quick seal.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Three clones appeared by the Jounin's side and dispersed immediately. Kimimaro instantly paid attention on the clones and the original form. Despite having the advantage of his bones defending his body, he knew he could not underestimate his opponent. He was after all an elite Jounin that was well known throughout the lands. Obviously, when his clones were with him was when he was the most dangerous.

Maki formed another set of seals, "Fire release! Dragon blast technique!"

Kimimaro watched the fire in the shape of the dragon coming right at him. He transfered chakra to his feet and jumped into the air, the blast of fire destroying and burning trees below him. One of the clones took the initiative, throwing a wave of shurikens and kunais while the other two clones jumped up for the attack.

"Whirwind dance." Kimimaro muttered and he instantly spun around with great speed, deflecting all of the shurikens. The deflection destroyed one of the clones in the process but one of the clones reached Kimimaro and engaged in combat.

The original Maki joined in the fight and the clone from the ground also joined in. With three Jounins against one, Kimimaro was overwhelmed and could feel a number of times Maki had slashed him but it was thanks to his bones that he still lived. Maki kept on attacking but his bones were impossible to break.

Kimimaro growled in anger and then spun around, destroying his clones. The original Maki managed to back away at the right moment but he left an opening. Kimimaro opened his palm and sent a bone in the shape of a spear, and the blade pierced through Maki's chest cleanly as if he was butter. Haruno Maki landed on the cold ground, not moving.

Kimimaro smirked and landed on the ground, calling back all of his bones. He stared at Maki's dead body with glee and was prepared to help Sakon when he heard a poof. Kimimaro stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to find a puff of smoke from where the dead Maki was.

"Impossi..."

Kimimaro never finished his sentence as Maki delivered a bicycle kick from above, throwing the Kaguya ninja to the ground face-first. The kick was so loud that it could be heard in a mile radius. Maki landed on his feet a few metres away, staring at Kimimaro twitching in pain and clutching his head. Blood was already seeping out from where he delivered the kick. Kimimaro got up slowly and found two Maki's there.

"I thought... the real you..."

Maki scoffed, "You were too confident. I created several shadow clones when I released the dragon technique and let you assume my death. Now, you pay the mistake."

Kimimaro growled in anger, releasing chakra. Maki watched in surprise as Kimimaro's physique increased and his skin changed in colour. Kimimaro's hair grew wilder and longer and his chakra had increased. Maki took out a new custom kunai, moving into a defensive stance.

"I underestimated you, Haruno Maki," Kimimaro said as he finished evolving to his level two form, "But now, I will finish you off!"

Haruno Maki narrowed his eyes, knowing that Kimimaro was in serious mode. His transformation was obviously a last result and seeing that his ultimate defense was once again activated, he found that he might have to use his ultimate technique to break through Kimimaro's ultimate defense.


	51. Respective Battles II

**Alright guys, here is the new update. I hope you guys will enjoy this story and please do review.**

**Next chapter, "Warrior of the Night."**

**CHAPTER 51: RESPECTIVE BATTLES II**

The fifth Hokage of Konoha felt exhausted as she sat on her sit in her office, staring at the outside from the window. She wished she could go back in time and refused to take the job as fifth Hokage. The blonde Hokage sighed heavily and could feel a headache coming her way. It was no wonder that her old teacher wanted to retire in the first place. She was about to take a sip from her hidden sake when a knock on her door stopped her tracks.

Tsunade quickly closed the drawer containing her hidden sake and then sat up straight on her sit. With a loud voice, she barked, "Come in!"

The door revealed the copy ninja Hatake Kakashi with his usual bored look, "Hokage-sama..."

Tsunade was surprised. Not because that Kakashi was here since she was the one that assigned an ANBU team to recall Kakashi and his team to return back to Konoha and abort the mission. No, she was surprised at the sheer speed of the return of the White Fang's son.

Kakashi stood behind the desk, scratching his silver hair, "For you to call me and my team back after being assigned an A-rank mission must be important...?"

Tsunade smirked, "You catch up pretty fast."

"I wouldn't be able to last long as an elite Jounin if I was not alert in such matters."

The fifth Hokage nodded, "I'm sending you on a back-up mission."

The silver haired Jounin waited a moment for the Hokage to add anything else he might want to hear. Nothing. He stared at the blonde Hokage for a moment, his head wondering why she would call him back just to send him on a back-up mission.

"I'm sure that there must been a free team to send on a back-up mission. Why would..."

"Sasuke's been kidnapped," Tsunade interjected, watching the change of expression on the copy ninja, "By Sound ninjas. They're most likely Orochimaru's underlings." Tsunade sighed, "From the reports by you a month before the invasion of Konoha, it states here that you and Maki encountered Orochimaru. You clearly wrote here that he was and is after Sasuke for one thing.

Kakashi nodded slowly, "So he's finally acted on it."

"That is why I am sending you on the mission."

Kakashi had no further questions and saw no reason why he should delay his stay in Konoha any longer. He was still equipped for a mission since returning and he planned to depart immediately. He made his way towards the door of the Hokage office.

A million thoughts were raging within Kakashi's mind. The silver haired Jounin knew that this day would come but he underestimated the fact that Orochimaru would come after Sasuke so soon. Kakashi knew he had to hurry. That was when he realised he didn't know where Sasuke was last seen.

"Where were the Sound ninjas last reported heading?"

"Doesn't matter," Tsunade replied, "They will be heading to the Sound village which ever route they take. I suggest you intercept their path... Or..."

Kakashi nodded his head again, "Meet up with the team I am supposed to reinforce... Who and where are they?"

"Unfortunately, I could not send any ANBU team as most of them are already on missions or on patrol. The only available team I could send was the newly appointed Chuunin, Nara Shikamaru. I leaved it to him to pick his team mates, but I know Naruto was among them."

Kakashi could not believe that Tsunade would send a newly appointed Chuunin, who most likely picked Gennins as his subordinates on one of the most important missions of Konoha. Then again, he reasoned the fact that Tsunade had to act fast and all teams were unavailable, this was the best she could come up with. After all, Naruto was a ninja that could easily be ranked as an experienced Chuunin in terms of fighting abilities.

"Roger that," Kakashi said, "I'll find them myself."

"Before you summon your dogs for the hunt, I should inform you that two others have gone ahead to reinforce Naruto's team... And also a squad of Sand ninja." Tsunade informed Kakashi, who was in the middle of forming seals for the summoning techinque.

"It would be impossible for any Sand ninjas to make it on time." Kakashi stated the fact.

Tsunade shook her head, "I thought that too, but two days ago, I received word from the Sand village that they were sending a squad to Konoha to deliver a high-class message for the council."

"And I assume that you sent a messenger hawk to this Sand team to assist us?"

Kakashi took Tsunade's silence as a yes. As he summoned his pack of dogs and gave commands to search for the scent of Naruto, which Kakashi provided, he realised he still did not know about the two other ninjas of Konoha that were sent as reinforcement.

"And what about the two ninjas?"

"I'm sure you'll be glad to know that Haruno Maki was among them. He brought his niece to assist him." Tsunade told Kakashi, waiting for his reaction.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, "Maki...?"

"Indeed," Tsunade now smirked, "I'm sure once you two meet up later, the mission should be a success. I would like to see if the rumours are true that when Hatake Kakashi the copy ninja and Haruno Maki the replicator worked together, they become known as 'The Twin Kages.'"

Kakashi now knew why Tsunade was sending him on the mission. It was true that if he and Maki worked together, never once had they failed a mission nor defeated by any ninjas they faced. They have beated S-rank ninjas easily and now, even if Orochimaru sent his best underling, the two could easily defeat them.

**With Naruto...**

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Sakura asked while she jumped off another tree branch.

"I know he will be okay," Naruto assured Sakura, "Shikamaru can deal with that woman easily, I'm sure. If not, he wouldn't have told us to go on ahead to complete our mission."

During their chase a few minutes ago, the woman Sound ninja, Tayuya stopped suddenly and attacked the three of her pursuers. It was obvious that she was going to buy some time for Sakon and Shikamaru who always planned ahead had already anticipated this. He ordered Naruto and Sakura to continue the chase while he took on Tayuya.

Naruto wanted to remain behind but he saw the resolve Shikamaru had in his eyes. Without looking back, he sped past Shikamaru who was already engaged in battle. Tayuya had tried to get Naruto and Sakura in the fight but Shikamaru was already proving himself to be a formidable opponent that needed her full attention to fight back.

However, Tayuya had bought Sakon enough time to disappear from the sights of Sakura and Naruto. At this rate, Sakon would be outside the borders of Fire country and the chances of getting Sasuke would be lower since it was outside their jurisdiction by then. Ninjas were only allowed to be in other country's borders if they had missions and only then were they granted access to their territory.

Sakon however was not confident. He knew that the two Konoha brats tailing him would catch up and he would lose even he transformed to level two form of the curse seal. Even if he faced Naruto one-on-one he would lose and all of his comrades had already given their lives in order for him to succeed.

The chase continued on for another three minutes when Naruto finally caught sight of the fleeing Sound ninja. Naruto quickly grabbed a number of shurikens from his weapon holster and threw it at Sakon with perfect accuracy. Sakon grunted as he avoided the wave of shurikens but that caused him to make a slight detour which allowed Sakura to get in front of Sakon, blocking his path.

"We got you now!" Naruto exclaimed from behind Sakon.

With the huge container he was carrying, it was difficult for him to move about. He threw the container away and blocked Naruto's fist and the two engaged in combat while Sakura went for the container. The young Haruno was about to reach her target when another figure appeared, grabbing the container and trying to flee but Sakura acted quickly, throwing a number of kunais at Ukon.

Sakon gasped in pain as Naruto kneed him in the gut. He tried to ignore the pain and attack back but, Naruto was on a full assault. Naruto delivered another blow to Sakon's face, blood seeping out of Sakon's mouth and a bruise to his cheeks. The blonde ninja then took out a kunai and slashes Sakon on his right shoulder, blood splurting from the wound. Without even giving Sakon a moment to recover, Naruto jumped and gave a powerful side-kick to Sakon's right side of his face, throwing him off balance and landing on the ground face first.

Meanwhile, Sakura was finding it difficult to stop Ukon from moving about. Unfortunately for her, she had no means to stop him and her genjutsu techniques would only work if the enemy was focused on her. Currently, Ukon was not paying any attention but trying to escape.

Ukon could sense Sakon's defeat and was beaten badly. Ukon knew that his twin worked best with him and on level two but the two Konoha brats were strong on their own. It got worse when Naruto entered the chase, intercepting Ukon's path by blocking his path.

"It's over!" Naruto declared, holding onto a kunai.

Ukon had given up hope and knew the mission was a failure when a dark figure appeared right in front of Ukon, defending him against the oncoming Naruto. The dark figure easily evaded Naruto's kunai and counter-attacked quickly by tossing the hyperactive blonde to Sakura, causing the two of them to crash and fall on the ground.

"What the hell?" Naruto groaned as he proceeded to help Sakura up.

Ukon stared in disbelief at the new comer. He knew of Kimimaro's coming but he had not expected any further reinforcements, especially this person standing right next to him. He was a man that only obeyed Orochimaru's orders and this meant that the snake Sannin himself had ordered him to be here.

"Give me the container," The man spoke coldly, "I will bring the container back. You will buy me some time."

Ukon nodded and handed the large container to the man. Although this person was almost equal to Kimimaro, his bloodline limit was far better than the Kaguya. Ukon quickly went to Sakon to prepare to transform to level two. He had to buy time.

Naruto watched in anger as the man was disappearing from sight with Sasuke. Naruto had noticed that the man was unusual in the sense that he wore dark clothes, almost everything he wore was black. Naruto glanced at Sakon and Ukon as the two slowly started their transformation.

"Sakura-chan, let's take of this guy quick and then we can catch up with Sasuke!"

"No," Sakura took out a kunai and stepped in front of Naruto, facing the two transformed Sound ninja, "You go on ahead, Naruto-kun. I can handle this."

"What? I'm not leaving you behind!"

"You have to!" Sakura retorted, "If you don't, Sasuke will be too far gone beyond the borders of Fire country. We cannon take the risk of going over national borders without any reason... Naruto-kun, go..."

The young blonde stood there, unable to come up with words, "Sakura-chan..."

Sakura smiled at her boyfriend, "Don't worry, I'll be alright."

Inside of Naruto, he was thorn with not knowing which was the right decision. His brain told him that he should chase down the man that got Sasuke but his heart told him to remain here with Sakura. He struggled with his thoughts and this gave Sakon and Ukon the opportunity to attack.

"Go!" Sakura shouted and went ahead to block the two Sound ninjas path.

Naruto didn't know why, but his body responded to Sakura's orders. He jumped off the tree branch he was on and started chakra sprinting towards the direction the man had disappeared. Deep down in his heart, he prayed and hoped that Sakura would be alright facing two opponets at the same time.

**With Maki...**

Kimimaro was growing frustrated and also tired of the clones he had faced. He had a number of large cuts on his arms and body from Maki's custom kunai and his wounds were not helping him. With blood loss, he was beginning to lose focus. Despite having his ultimate defence, the pink haired Jounin was still able to land a number of cuts on the Kaguya's body. After all, there are some openings between the bones.

Kimimaro stared at the two Maki's in front of him and doubted that either of them were real. He lost sight of the original one a few seconds ago when he was attacked from behind, causing him to not keep an eye of the original replicator ninja. In all honesty, if it were not for his ultimate defence, Kimimaro knew he would have been defeated by now, despite him being on level two form.

From behind Kimimaro, another clone of Maki appeared from the trees, throwing a shuriken at Kimimaro. The last remaining Kaguya made no attempts to move, knowing that his bones would easily deflect one single shuriken. However, the clone formed a seal.

"Shuriken shadow replication technique!"

This caught Kimimaro by surprise and stared at a large number of shurikens coming at him. Although he was put in a difficult situation, he now knew that the one that threw the shuriken was not a clone but the real Maki. He kept his sights on the original person, blocking the large arrays of shurikens with his bone blade. After the wave of shurikens were dealt with, he still had his sights on the original Maki.

Unfortunately, to pay his full attention on the original body meant that he left the two clones uncared for. The young Kaguya was about to strike towards Maki when one clone appeared right in front of him with a kunai drawn. The clone spotted an opening on Kimimaro's hips, close to where his kidneys should be. The clone plunged the kunai deep into the right of Kimimaro's hips easily as if a knife stabbing a butter. Kimimaro cursed his carelessness and also cursing how his ultimate defence had a couple of openings. Withstanding the pain, he destroyed the clone with a swipe of his bone blade.

"Damn you!"

The second clone appeared, intercepting Kimimaro's thought for an attack. The two engage in combat with Kimimaro dispelling the clone ten seconds later. During the fight, he had failed to notice one of Maki's custom kunai landing right at his feet so the moment he destroyed the second clone, Maki released the clone from his custom kunai.

"What..?"

The original Maki smirked from behind the tree he hid. Although he had to admit that the ultimate defence was useful, the pink haired Jounin had found a number of open spots for his attack. Furthermore, the more clones he sent and then later dispelled, the more he learnt about his opponent. That was what made him so dangerous when it came to facing the replicator one on one. With Kimimaro distracted once more, Maki moved from his hiding place and sprinted towards Kimimaro's back.

The Sound ninja heard footsteps coming from behind him and he knew it was either another clone or the real one. Unfortunately for him, the clone he faced right now was taking all his attention and he needed to defeat the clone first before he could face the person appraoching him.

Maki had formed seals and when he was precisely just three metres away from Kimimaro, he stopped sprinting, "Fire release! Death whip technique!"

Kimimaro turned back to find a line of fire coming at him. The fire was moving in a zig-zap manner with incredible velocity and there was no way he could avoid it. Also, his ultimate defence was never meant to defend him against a fire. With not much of an option, he simply turned around to allow the left side of him to be blasted with the heat.

Maki narrowed his eyes when he saw his opponent doing that. He had planned that to be the ultimate blow but Kimimaro instead sacrificed his left arm to be exposed to the burns. The pink haired Jounin had calculated that if his fire technique had hit Kimimaro head on, he should have died. After all, the 'death whip' was a high-ranking fire technique that had intense heat. The better your chakra control, the faster and hotter the technique was.

From the aftermath after receiving the burns, Kimimaro was on one knee, clutching his burnt left arm. With this, he could still delay the replicator from proceeding. The last Kaguya had already known he would be defeated by Maki, but he planned to put up a fight. He just never thought that despite being level two that their differences were still so far apart.

"Just give up," Maki stated and pointed to the useless left arm, "You can't fight me, not with that injury."

Kimimaro got back to his feet, drawing his bone blade once more, "I will never give up. It is whether I die by your hands or you by mine."

The Konoha elite Jounin shook his head in despair, "You're stubborn. If you wish so much to die, then so be it."

Kimimaro winced in pain as he felt the burns hurting him. He was in a very bad condition right now. There were already several cuts on his body and a few moments ago, he was stabbed by a kunai on his hips and now he had a burnt left arm. His movements were restricted and probably reduced by half. However, his will and determination to serve his master by completing the mission was the only thing driving him.

Ignoring all pain coming from his body, Kimimaro charged forward, "DIE!"

From the trees, two more clones appeared and stood on the sides of the original. Kimimaro was no longer surprised about the clones. For all he knew, his enemy in front of him probably had another dozen hiding just waiting for the right time.

Maki and his clones also sprinted forward to meet with the Kaguya. The right clone went ahead with a kunai drawn. Kimimaro attempted to destroy the clone quickly but seeing that the clone had the exact strength and abilities of the original, the clone managed to avoid it by jumping over him. Kimimaro now knew what was going on. With the clone now behind him and two more coming from the front, he was being attacked on all sides.

"Dance of the lunar..."

With graceful movements, Kimimaro was moving his bone blade in all directions despite his injuries. This sudden movement caught the Konoha Jounin by surprise but he was able to block the unseen blade with his custom kunai. One of the clones was destroyed but one survived.

Kimimaro winced in pain after using such a move. He had overworked his injured arm and the cuts around his body were not helping. Panting heavily, he took a quick glance at his enemy. From hindsight, Maki looked like how he did in the beginning, relaxed and not a single scratch.

"If you won't give up, then I'll just have to kill you..."

Kimimaro wanted to laugh at his words but hie injuries forbid it. Still, he found it impossible for him to die now. He might be defeated, but his bones won't allow him to be killed by any sharp objects. His hip was stabbed, that was true, but all his vital organs had bones protecting them so there was no way any sharp objects could harm him.

The pink haired Jounin made a gesture and from the trees, numerous amonts of clone emerged. Kimimaro got into a stance to prepare for the fight. Maki took this opportunity to throw another brand new custom kunai. The last Kaguya barely avoided the custom kunai but he felt a small scratch on his cheek, blood dripping from the wound.

Kimimaro cursed as the clone appeared right next to him. Not moving quick enough, the clone grabbed Kimimaro's injured left arm and by this time, the other clones had also arrived, each grabbing a part of Kimimaro's body. Some grabbed his legs, one around his neck and a few on his useable arm. He could have just summoned bones from within him to destroy them but he found that he could not do so. It seems that his chakra was almost empty and summoning those bones require chakra.

"It looks like my calculations were correct," Maki declared triumphantly, "You need chakra to call out your bones."

"Impossible," Kimimaro spoke out weakly, "Even if I had to use chakra for my ultimate defence, it wouldn't have drained out so much."

"Indeed, but you see, on one of your cuts, I had placed a seal on the tip of my kunai. When it cut you, the seal moved into your body and that seal kept extracting chakra."

Kimimaro was silent for a moment but then chuckled, "It doens't matter, you can't kill me. All of my vital organs are protected by my diamond-hard bones within me. Nothing could kill me."

Maki smirked, "That is true, but that is also why I needed my clones to hold you for me."

Kimimaro watched on as Maki starting forming a number of seals. The last Kaguya glanced at his captors, wondering when the hell the Konoha Jounin had created this much during his fight. He thought he made sure that Maki had no time to create clones but he guessed that was why he had the nickname. He was near impossible to fight with all these clones harrassing and confusing him.

"Fire Lance!"

Maki's right arm burst into a red flame, the fire blazing hot but Maki was fine. Kimimaro stared in silence and it finally dawned on him. The famous technique kills the enemies by burning the inner organs. His bones inside him could only take so much before it finally dies out. It was now that he began to struggle for release but his captors held onto him firmly, not letting him go.

"I would have prefered to kill you with a cut to the neck," Maki explained, beginning to sprint forward, "But for all I know, you probably had your neck covered in bones too."

After that, Maki started his run towards Kimimaro with his right arm blazing in fire. Kimimaro was now desperately trying to escape but he was now physically too injured to fight off around seven Jounins at peak condition. The young Kaguya watched in horror as Maki was now directly in front of him and it was as if he was watching it in slow motion. He felt Maki's arm smashing right on his upper left of his chest and for a second of two, he felt nothing. But it was only that two seconds when the flames easily burnt his inner bone defence. Then, it hit him.

The scorching heat burning his vital organs. Kimimaro screamed in pain, writhing in agony but he could not move. Blood seeped out of his mouth like a waterfall and in just five seconds, after the excruciating pain had passed, he stopped moving. Maki removed his arm from Kimimaro's body and the Kaguya's head bowed down, lifeless. Maki turned away from the sight, giving a silent prayer. If Kimimaro was still alive, he would still be screaming in agony. Haruno Maki could still hear the flames inside Kimimaro's body burning and he did not want to imagine the sight of the inner body being burnt.

The pink haired Jounin dispelled his clones, thus releasing Kimimaro. The last Kaguya dropped on the grassy ground as if he was some sort of toy, lifeless. Maki kneeled down on his knees and closed the eyes of the last Kaguya in the world. The eyes that would remain never open again. After he was done, he dispelled the other fifteen clones he had created that were still hiding in the forest. He still had a number of custom kunai's in his pouch that would be sufficient enough to defeat a number of Orochimaru's underlings. Besides, even if he had run out of custom kunai's, he was still efficient in creating his own shadow clones to be good.

"Oh, I guess you didn't need our help..." A voice said from the right of Maki.

Maki didn't bother to turn to the source of the voice, "I could have taken him easily, but his ultimate defence caused quite a problem."

"I see..." The woman turned to the north direction, "Should we go?"

Maki nodded, "We're still a long ways off before we can catch up with whoever has the container." Maki then had a questioning looks, "Where're your students? And what are you doing here in Fire country territory?"

Hajime Himura grinned, "I've dispersed them to help the other Gennins that are in trouble. As to your second question, we were on the way to Konoha to deliver a message from the Sand when we received an order from the Hokage to assisst you guys. From what the message said, it was extremely important to Konoha."

Maki nodded, "Any ideas we can track them down?"

Himura pointed above her and Maki looked up. He was genuinely surprised to find him up there with his small summon with him.

"Come on, Maki," Kakashi said, "Pakkun has picked up the scent."

"Right," Maki turned towards Himura, "Let's go!"

To be honest, Maki was surprised to see Himura again but this was a strange coincidence. He had also not expected to find Kakashi with her and he only guessed that Tsunade had sent them here.

**With Sakura...**

The young pink haired kunoichi was facing problems of her own as she hid behind the bark of a tree, catching her breath. Honestly, she thought she could easily take Sakon out but facing one of them was hard enough. Now she had to face the two of them, she was obviously outmatched. Since the fight had started, Sakura had been put on the defensive.

The main problem on why she could defeat the two Sound ninjas was that being a Genjutsu user, she could not be distracted when casting a Genjutsu on a person. Secondly, even if she had succeeded in doing so, the other person would easily release the Genjutsu and she would be back at square one.

Sakura took a peek from the corner of the bark and could see both Sakon and Ukon looking for her, their eyes moving left and right searching every corner for her. The young Gennin knew her hiding place would be found soon but if she moved now, she would be spotted even sooner. She decided to use her time to think of some strategies like how Shikamaru would.

A number of thoughts raged within her mind but she could cope with the stress and pressure at the moment so she could come up with a plan that could help her. She cursed in her mind and decided to just play it by ear. She took out a kunai and prepared herself.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are.." Sakon sang out, licking his lips in glee.

"You can run but you can't hide..." Ukon added in as the two continued their search.

Sakura took a deep breath and revealed herself. The two Sound ninjas had not noticed her until they heard the sound of a kunai whisking in the air. Ukon spotted it coming right at him and jumped back to Sakon only to find that there was an explosion tag set up there.

"When did...!"

The tag blasted away before Ukon could even finish his sentence. The two had avoided the explosion at the nick of time but Sakura knew that. As usual, being a Genjutsu user, she needed them distracted for her to do her seals. Once completed, she casted one on Ukon.

Ukon at first did not realise it since he was still in the same environment. However, he noticed that the trees were larger than normal and the leaves. Even the tree branch he was on was huge. He looked around and realised that Sakon or even the pink haired girl was nowhere to be seen. It was then that he realised he was in a Genjutsu. After all, he had been fighting a Genjutsu user after all. He had to admit though that her Genjutsu's were unique. She always caught him and Sakon in surprise, never realising where they were for a few seconds. If it was one-on-one, it would be all she needed to slice their throats.

Sakon wondered what the hell was wrong with his partner just standing staring at absolutely nothing. He could not find the pink haired girl after the explosion and he was honestly now getting frustrated with these cat and mouse games.

"Where the hell are you?" Sakon screamed out in frustration.

Silence greeted him but then he heard a silent, hoarse whisper from behind him, "Here..."

Sakon turned around in shock but it was too late. He could feel a large cut on his shoulder despite his attempts to avoid it. He jumped back but Sakura took this opportunity to attack continuously. From her fight twenty minutes ago since it started, she realised out of the two idiots, Ukon was weaker in Genjutsu and would require more team to escape her technique. This would give enough time to attack Sakon.

Sakon gritted his teeth in anger and suddenly began his counter-attack, wielding two kunai's and attacking wildly with no sense of coordination. This caught Sakura by surprise and she also decided that now was the time to fall back and hide. This was the only way she could win.

She quickly formed a number of seals when she had found some distance. Sakon charged forward and just as he was nearing her, he found himself immersed in a forest of cherry blossoms. He stopped his charge and quickly removed the Genjutsu and when he was back to reality, he had found that Sakura was gone.

"Shit!" Sakon spat out in frustration, "This little bitch is getting on my nerves."

The twelye year old kunoichi smiled silently from her hiding place which was located in a large bush on the ground, fifty metres away from the two Sound ninjas. Here, she planned her next attack.

**With Naruto...**

Sasuke's captor had finally stopped running away from Naruto and the blonde felt relieved that he did stop. Besides, he would have caught up with the guy anyway so it was simply delaying the inevitable. He also realised he was no longer in the thick forest but they were close to some sort of a valley. He could see two large statues close to a waterfall and the man was at the edge of the cliff, his back towards Naruto.

"I realised," The man started, his voice distant and soft, "That the chase will never end until you get what you want."

"Damn right!" Naruto exclaimed, "So it's better you just give up now!"

"Unfortunately, I serve Orochimaru-sama and I cannot hand him to you. You'll have to go through me."

"If that's what it takes to get back my friend, I'll be glad to kick your ass!"

The man turned around and placed the container on the ground, close to the edge of the cliff. The man was smiling sadly, his eyes filled with sorrow. Naruto could easily recognise those type of eyes, filled with sadness.

"Come," The man said, "We can settle our fight on the flowing water below..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Why the hell would I go down there to fight? For all I know, you're team mates will get Sasuke while I'm busy with you."

The man shook his head and chuckled softly, "Do not worry. I've placed a technique to place the container stuck to the ground. Nothing can move it unless the ground was split asunder. Now, come..."

Naruto watched the man jump off the cliff towards the water. Naruto found it odd that the man had completely changed character. When he saw him earlier retrieving the container from Sakon, he was cold and filled with authority. Now, it seemed as if the man had grown older, a little too gentle for his taste. Naruto created a shadow clone and placed it close to Sasuke so that if anything happened, he could quickly go to get the container.

The young blonde then jumped down the cliff and landed on the water to find the man waiting for him patiently. Naruto drew out a kunai, wondering who would make the first move. Here, it was quite hard to see the man's face since the shadow of the cliff above covered the area. It was now that he realised the man's face was darker now, filled with evil once more. This was the face that Naruto saw in the forest and not a few seconds earlier.

"Now, I shall grant you the special honour of a slow and painful death..." The man said coldly with an aggressive attacking stance.

Naruto managed to smile, "You can try and humour me a little."

"Confident little brat, aren't you?" The man said, "Come then... I will show you how the forbidden technique from the village of Burrow is."

Naruto gulped when he saw that the man had some sort of aura around him. He didn't know why, but Naruto felt fear... A feeling he rarely got when it comes to fights.


	52. Warrior of the night

**Here is the new update guyz~ Hope you will enjoy this one. Oh, just a reminder to you guys that those fights that are from canon will not be repeatd here. So obviously, Neji vs Kidomaru and Shikamaru vs Tayuya is not described here.**

**Next chapter, "Konoha is my home"**

**CHAPTER 52: WARRIOR OF THE NIGHT**

"Is that all you have to offer?" Sakon called out in frustration, searching frantically for the pink haired girl.

The two Sound ninjas had been harassed since the beginning of the fight with traps laid out by the girl and also being trapped in numbers of Genjutsu. Unfortunately for him though was that he lacked techniques that could find her and she was good at hiding.

Haruno Sakura however was not having the best situation too. She was running low on chakra and her stamina could be used up. If this keeps up, she would be found and killed without much of a fight. The pink haired girl was panting heavily now and for the life of her, did not know how to settle this fight.

She now regretted not having Naruto by her side but it was for the success of the mission. For her to face against two enemies at once was a huge problem for a Genjutsu user like her.

"Found ya!"

Sakura immediately moved away from her location, sprinting across the forest ground and both Sakon and Ukon pursued her relentlessly. She continued running through a number of ways to beat them but none came to her mind. She was getting tired and due to a lapse of concentration, Ukon had managed to intercept her path.

Sakura was met with a powerful fist on her face which sent her flying away. She could feel the taste of blood on her lips as she landed hard on the ground. Both Sakon and Ukon were now cackling happily.

"The chase is over now you little bitch!" Ukon spat out, "You're going to pay for these wounds!"

Sakura cringed in pain and started to look around her. After all, the academy had once taught her that the environment can sometimes pull the win. She spotted a small lake behind the two Sound ninjas and realised that if she could cast a Genjutsu whilst they were on the lake, she could have the upper hand. Sakura had one Genjutsu technique that was related to water and the only to release the victim was for an intervention from someone. All Sakura had to do was catch one of them in a Genjutsu and the other will be all hers.

Also, she had learnt the ultimate Genjutsu that her uncle had given her, the one that was her late father's ultimate technique. From the description she read on the scroll, it needed precise chakra control or else it will backfire. With her amount of chakra right now, it was sufficient to use it on them.

"Alright, let's just get rid of her and then continue on our mission. Tsuchi-sama will be done with the blonde kid by then." Ukon said and approached Sakura with killing intent.

"You're no fun," Sakon complained, "That's why I hate to let you come out."

"If it weren't for me, you'd be dead by now."

Sakon rolled his eyes and then took out a kunai, "Whatever then. Let's take care of her first."

Sakura acted quickly and dashed to her right, catching the two Sound ninjas by surprise. They had thought that Sakura was too injured to move but then again, all she received was a fist. Sakon and Ukon gave chase with them close behind. Sakura timed her moment and when she neared the lake, she leaped forward and landed on the centre of the lack and faced the her two enemies.

"Whatever you're planning is useless," Sakon said with an evil grin, "You can't beat the two of us."

Ukon was much more careful and eyed the surroundings before stepping onto the lake. Sakura had to hide a grin since everything was going exactly she had hoped for. However, she could grow overconfident since she herself was not sure if this scheme would work.

Once the two Sound ninjas were within range, she immediately started forming a set of seals. Ukon was prepared since he knew that the girl was planning something. His partner however was careless as usual, not thinking of any backup plans to counter-attack. Ukon lunged forward to stop Sakura from completing the seals but he was too late.

Sakura cast her Genjutsu on Ukon, trapping his mind. This was another A-rank level Genjutsu that consumes a large amount of chakra. The technique works best when the victim was on the water which Ukon was on. Because the victim will have to control a steady flow of chakra on to their feet to be standing on the water, the victim will be unable to release themselves from the Genjutsu except for intervention from someone in the real world.

Sakura grinned tiredly as Ukon stood still on the lake as if he was in a trance. Sakon noticed his partner's predicament and proceeded to help him. Sakura knew that she would have to act fast. Sakon was alone now and she had to defeat him now.

"Don't be so full of yourself, you little bitch!" Sakon shouted and threw a shuriken towards Sakura.

Sakura cursed as the shuriken was nothing but a mere distraction to completing the final seal. The twelve year old Gennin failed to capitalise the opportunity and Sakon was already releasing the Genjutsu she placed on Ukon. Her plan had failed and she was in a bad situation. With low chakra and out of ideas, she had to make a retreat now.

"Let's get her!" The two Sound ninjas said, chakra sprinting towards her.

Sakura jumped back and at the same time throwing a wave of shurikens at her foes. It caused nothing but a mild distraction but it would be enough for Sakura to make her escape. Deep inside, she knew she had to escape or she would be killed. Not only was she low on chakra, but her equipment was running out. She had picked the wrong opponent to face. Two-on-one was not her favourite battle.

Sakon lunged forward and surprised Sakura when he suddenly appeared in front of her. Sakura quickly threw a punch but Sakon easily blocked it. This gave Ukon the time he needed to catch up and in a second, Sakura was cornered. Sakon at the front and Ukon at the back. Due to her lack of Taijutsu skills, the two Sound ninjas were enjoying their beating on the Konoha Gennin.

Sakura finally found the moment to escape the beatings when Ukon missed a blow and hopped a few metres away. She had a number of slashes on her body and a few large cuts. She was injured badly and this could be over.

'Sorry Naruto-kun,' Sakura thought, panting, 'but it looks like I won't be seeing you after this.'

"It was a fun game of cat and mouse, you little brat..." Sakon commented while grinning madly.

"But the game ends here!" Ukon finished and the two charged forward for the kill.

Sakura wondered if she should use the Genjutsu she learnt from the scroll of her late father. The ultimate Genjutsu. But Sakura decided against it since it would completely drain her chakra and thus killing herself. She would rather take the chance of fighting the two rather than using the forbidden technique that would kill her.

The pink haired girl prepared for the worst when a figure appeared to her right and threw a sort of wave at the oncoming Sound ninjas. Ukon, being the more alert body barely avoided the wave but unfortunately for his partner, Sakon was caught in the blast of wave. Sakon was thrown backwards until he crahsed onto the bark of a tree, blood spurting from his mouth due to the impact.

"Who are you!" Ukon demanded, glaring at the new comer.

Sakura herself was surprised to see him. After all, the last time she saw him, they were enemies. Gaara had not even blinked once since he arrived but chose to stare coldly at his enemies.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara, ninja of the Sand village and ally of the Leaf village." Gaara turned to Sakura and gave a small smile, "Are you alright?"

Sakura gave a weak nod, "You..."

"Don't worry," Gaara assured the frightened girl, "I'm not the monster I once was during the invasion. Thanks to Uzumaki Naruto, I have learned that I can lead the life I wanted by caring for others. To have friends..." Gaara stopped for a moment and then continued, "That is why, I am going to make sure that the girl he wants to protect the most will be safe from her enemies."

The two Sound ninjas hesitated to attack the renowned Sand Gennin. When the Sound were allies, Sakon and Ukon knew of the powers Gaara had. The fact that he was never injured was indeed terrifying. Now, Gaara was their enemy and fresh whereas they were tired.

"What do we do?" Sakon muttered to his partner, still clutching his chest from the pain.

"Running away won't do any good since we are just supposed to buy time." Ukon replied.

"Then...?"

"We'll just delay them for as long as we can... Even if it costs our lives."

Gaara stepped forward with his arms folded on his chest, "Come at me with all you've got. Because know that you will not be seeing the light of day after this..."

**With Naruto...**

There was silence in the valley as the two ninjas stared at one another for what seems like forever. Naruto could not help but feel that the man he saw before him had split personalities. How could a person change their facial expressions and emotion is a blink of an eye. That was why he felt this fear. He had never met a person that could do that so easily and it creates the feeling that the person before him was some sort of a monster.

With the shadows of the cliff covering the two of them, it was dark in the valley. Naruto could not help but feel his enemy wanted him to come down here. But Naruto could not figure out why. What would be helpful to him in a place like this? Could he have placed traps here? Naruto did not know.

Without realising it, he was shaking. The Kyuubi container looked down and could see his knees trembling and hands trembling. He tried to tell himself to not be afraid but he could not. It was as if the man had this terrifying aura to do this to him. The man obviously noticed Naruto's discomfort.

"It is natural," The man finally said nonchalantly, "It is one of my clan's speciality."

"One of it...?" Naruto took out a kunai with his hand still shaking, "Are you saying there is more than one?"

He gave a menacing smile, "Why don't you find out?"

In the blink of an eye, he appeared right before the blonde. Naruto had no time to react when he felt a fist crashing onto his face, sending him backwards. The blow was also powerful enough to cause a few slices of blood seeping out of Naruto's nose.

Naruto landed on the cold water and quickly gathered chakra to his feet to keep him afoat on the water. The young blonde held onto his nose to try and sooth the pain, feeling the warm, red liquid on his hand. It was then that he realised that the dark suit man had disappeared once more.

"You're too slow," A voice said next to Naruto's side, "Is this the abilities Konoha ninjas have to offer?"

Naruto swung his fist from the source of the voice only to hit thin air. Naruto spun around quickly but found nothing. He turned left and right and checked above him, but his enemy had once again disappeared.

'He's too fast!' Naruto thought, breathing heavily, 'How do I fight someone when I can't even keep up with him..?'

In a blink of an eye, the man appeared once more before Naruto. He delivered a kick to the chest but Naruto was lucky enough to have intercepted the kick with his arms and reduced the force of the attack. Despite that, the Konoha Gennin was still sent flying ten metres backwards.

Naruto winced in pain and glared at the man who stood confidently. Naruto could still feel himself trembling and it infuriated him. With his body shaking like that, he could not concentrate in his fight. He cursed his body. For the life of him, he did not know why he felt fear when he faced far more dangerous opponents before this weirdo.

"Since you won't live after this fight," The man started, his hands on his hips, "Let me explain what is going on with your body..."

Naruto remained silent but never leaving his guard down. As the man stepped forward into the light where the shadows of the cliff did not cover him, Naruto noticed the man's features change. He had a much gentle look, the kind he had when he invited Naruto to fight him in the valley. Although Naruto knew he was not Shikamaru, he knew that was something important about his enemy's man began, "I inherited the Izaki clan bloodline-limit through artificial means. The powers of the Izaki clan are amazing. To actually pour fear into your enemies give you a straight advantage battle, don't you think?"

Naruto stared at his trembling hands. Although he now knew why he was trembling, that would not help how he could overcome it. The Izaki ninja sighed softly.

"Of course, the Izaki clan was extinct fifteen years ago due to the Great Ninja War."

"If it's extinct, destroyed... What about you?"

The man smiled gently, "I told you, did I not? I gained this bloodline through artificial means. Kabuto-sama and Orochimaru-sama experimented on this bloodline and injected me, a test subject. Out of eighty participants, I was the only survivor..."

At this moment, he paused. From Naruto's point of view, it seemed that he was going through his past. The blonde Gennin knew that this was the best opportunity to attack seeing that the Sound ninja had let his guard down. However, Naruto did not do so for reasons unknown to him. Perhaps he wanted to listen more of the man's past.

"I have no memories of my childhood. All I remember was being a test subject of Orochimaru-sama and now that I am a successful subject, I must prove my usefulness." The man stopped for a moment, "As I was saying, pouring fear into my enemies is one of the bloodline abilities. But there is another ability which also suits this fight."

"I am not sure if you have noticed," The man began once more and spun around, looking at his surroundings, "Tell me... What do you notice is different from me when we fought earlier?"

Naruto pondered on that for a moment when he came to an answer, "Your killing intent... It was higher but now..."

"Yes, you noticed it," The man nodded and gazed at his own reflection in the water, "The second ability of the Izaki Clan is that we can manipulate darkness into battle. Basically, when I am covered in darkness, we gain more bloodlust in battle and also increase in speed and strength."

Naruto now understood why this man was so powerful the moment he entered the fight in this valley. The shadows gave him darkness and it was the main reason why he was so fast. Not to mention that he was trembling in fear, his own fighting abilities were decreased. It was a perfect combination to kill him.

The young blonde looked around him. For now, the two of them were in the light of the sun but this was one of thew few spots which had light. The rest of the valley were covered in the shadows of the cliffs. And the man had successfully led Naruto to his home ground.

Without anymore left to say and feeling immense danger, Naruto sprinted away from his opponent and aimed towards the cliff. The Konoha ninja planned to get out of this valley and back up to the cliff where he could gain back his advantage. Unfortunately for him, the man obviously knew this and chased after Naruto. Naruto was a few metres away from the chakra climbing the cliff when he entered the shadows and therefore, enemy territory.

"Let me see your fear!" The man practically screamed as he appeared right in front of Naruto with bloodlust in his eyes.

Naruto could feel that same fear appearing once more. The young ninja did not know how but he made it on time to draw out a kunai to block with the Izaki ninja's drawn kunai. He could see in the man's eyes that he was surprised Naruto could draw out a kunai on time.

"Not bad, brat..." The man whispered, "But you're still slow."

Within the blink of an eye, the man had grabbed Naruto by the neck and threw the young boy back into the valley. Before Naruto could hit the water, the man was already below and delivered a powerful kick to Naruto's back while still in mid-air. The kick sent Naruto a distance away until Naruto finally crashed on to the walls of the cliff, leaving a large crack from the impact.

The nine-tails container dropped on all fours on the cold water, coughing out blood in the process. From where he was, Naruto could tell that the man was pushing him further and further into the valley and therefore away from the light. Struggling to get back on his feet, he created a seal.

"Mass shadow replication technique!"

Naruto created twenty clones of himself and the clones immediately surrounded Naruto. The man chuckled at the sight. Obviously trying to buy time, he quickly charged towards the young blonde. Although it was clear who was the stronger, the Izaki experiment did not plan to underestimate his opponent.

Naruto formed another seal as his clones tried to defend themselves. He remembered during the preliminary rounds of the Chuunin exams, Lee moved with insane speed much as his opponent now was. His teacher taught him how when he could not see his enemy with his eyes due to speed, use his element to detect him. The twelve year old ninja began gathering chakra to his surroundings. When there only five clones left, Naruto could detect the man's movement and it was now that he counter-attacked.

The Izaki ninja was about to destroy the next clone when suddenly, three of the clones surrounded the targeted clone and threw five shurikens from each clone. This surprised the man and as a result, barely avoided them but he managed to receive a number of scratches from them. The sudden counter-attack forced the man to retreat backwards as he wondered how the young blonde ninja could detect him.

'Was I careless and gave away my location?' The Izaki ninja thought, 'No... Impossible... With his current fighting abilities, he's too weak to find...'

Before he could finish his thoughts, Naruto striked once more. The man quickly used speed to disappear from sight and targeted one of the remaining clones from the back. Unfortunately for him, Naruto could already detect him by using the air around the area to detect his movements.

The closest clone delivered a fist with all his might. The Izaki ninja received the punch and dropped on the water, blood seeping out of his mouth from the punch and a black mark on his cheek. The clones all jumped at the fallen ninja, not giving him an opportunity to attack.

"Stop pissing me off!" The man screamed and formed two simple seals, "Death pulse technique!"

From around the Izaki ninja's body, green skulls appeared and each of them crashed on the clones, dispelling the clones. However, Naruto was not finished and created five set of seals.

"Wind release! Air's fury techinque!"

From where the Izaki ninja was, he could see a box-shape approaching at incredible speed. Despite the darkness heightening his agility, he could not avoid the technique. The box crashed on the man and felt a large slash on his left shoulder, blood seeping onto his dark clothes. The man winced in pain but was fortunate that Naruto's technique largely missed him. The 'air fury' technique normally attacked the body and not the arms.

The man stood and glared at Naruto, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He now knew that the boy could detect his movements somehow. If that was the case, he knew that the boy had overcome one of the clan's abilities which was the use of speed.

"Pretty good for a Konoha ninja," The man commented with a deadly smirk, "But it's time I got serious!"

**With the Jounins...**

Hatake Kakashi could feel the growing frustration emitting from his friend. He wanted to tell Maki to calm down but he could also understand how his friend felt. Sasuke was his personal student after all and he too wanted to rescue Sasuke as soon as possible. However, it seems that they were still a distance away from where Sasuke currently was.

"How much further?" Maki asked Pakun.

"At the pace we're going, at least another half hour."

Deep within the replicator, he cursed. After the fight with the Kaguya ninja, he wondered if Naruto and his friends were okay. The fact that the Kaguya ninja could hold him for so long made him wonder how strong Orochimaru lackeys were. He had to admit that he could have defeated the Kaguya ninja earlier but the ninja's ultimate defence truly wasted his time.

"Calm down Maki," Kakashi adviced, placing his hand on Maki's shoulder as the two jumped onto the next tree branch, "Don't let your emotions distract you."

Maki nodded. He wanted to brush Kakashi's advice away but what Kakashi said was true. After all, the reason why Kakashi was the better man was because Kakashi could stay calm in battle even if his enemy was stronger. By being calm, he could create strategies to wipe out the enemy with his large arrays of techniques.

"How much of those kunai's you got?" Kakashi questioned.

"About nine. Why?"

"Should be more than enough should we face a number of Jounins..." Kakashi stated.

The three Jounins then continued on their chase in silence. Thirty minutes to reach Naruto was still quite some time and Maki wondered if his niece was okay. However, Himura had assured him earlier that she had sent Gaara to locate and protect Sakura. To hear that the one-tailed container was protecting Sakura both relieved and frightened him.

"You know," Himura said, breaking the silence, "The three of us moving like this, it is as if we're a squad of Jounins."

Maki and Kakashi turned towards Himura and then at each other. Kakashi simply shrugged it off but Maki smiled. If Himura had never left Konoha and they all grew up, perhaps this could have been the outcome. Then again, if she had never left, then she probably would have been married to Kawada by now. The thought somehow saddened him.

**With Naruto...**

"Wind release! Air bullet"

The Izaki ninja easily avoided the ball of air thrown at him and counter-attacked immediately. By using sheer speed, he charged towards Naruto. Fortunately for the young blonde, he could detect the man's movements and blocked the kunai that was aimed at his neck.

"I don't know how you can follow my movements," The man said, his face inches away from Naruto, "But that won't help you..."

Naruto knew what he meant. The fact that he was still shaking in fear was not helping him win this fight. Although Naruto could defend himself, he could not properly find a move to finish off his enemy. And as the fight dragged on, Naruto could tell the man was slowly breaching through his defenses.

As the two were still locked with their kunai's, the man delivered a head butt on Naruto. The sudden attack caught Naruto by surprise and he dropped on the cold water, feeling the throbbing pain on his forehead. He could feel a warm liquid flowing from the wound.

Not giving Naruto the time to recover, the man stomped on Naruto's chest, causing Naruto to cough out another line of blood from his mouth. Naruto rolled away from the attack and threw a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag to create some distance between the two.

"That's not going to help!" The man said coldly, appearing behind Naruto.

"Your overconfidence is not going to help you!" Naruto replied, spinning around and delivered a kick to the man's neck. The Izaki ninja screamed in agony but he was not going to give Naruto the momentum.

The two ninjas once more engaged in close-combat, their kunai's clashing against one another with none of them finding the opportunity to deliver a fatal wound. Naruto at one point lapsed in concentration and foolishly attacked the Izaki ninja's wounded shoulder. The Izaki ninja merely dodged the attack and quickly plunged his kunai into Naruto's right arm. Naruto cringed in pain and released his kunai due to the pain, but the damage was done.

"You die now!"

The Izaki ninja grabbed hold of Naruto by the neck, lifting him off of his feet. Naruto gasped for breath and tried to break the hold. However, with his right arm injured and only his left arm trying to break the hold, it was useless. The Izaki ninja grinned wickedly at Naruto's cerulean eyes.

"I must admit, for a kid your age to fight me this long, that is something honourable..." The man praised, "For your reward, I will give you a quick death."

With his free hand, he revealed a hidden blade from the man's pouch and the tip of the blade was filled with a purple liquid. Naruto could tell that the blade was obviously filled with poison. Although the nine-tails could slow the poison, it would still result in his death.

"Send my regards to hell...!" The man spat and prepared for the death blow.

"Chidori!"

From behind the Izaki ninja, the two ninjas could hear the sudden sound of lightning created. It sounded as if a thousand birds were chirping and the sound was getting closer. Fearing the killing intent and danger he was in, the Izaki experiment released Naruto and jumped high into the air.

It was at the nick of time too as Sasuke would have plunged the lightning ball right into the man's back. Naruto landed on his back, coughing and gasping for air. Although he could not make sense of what was going on, the sight of Sasuke standing before him with the Chidori in his right arm confused him.

"Sasuke...?" Naruto sputtered, still gasping for air.

"Good to see you, dobe..." Sasuke replied, offering a hand with a grin on his face.

"When did you...?"

"I was uncounscious," Sasuke explained, "And if they thought that wooded container could hold me, they were wrong..."

Naruto sat there for a moment then accepted the hand. Sasuke pulled his partner up to his feet and the two Gennins stared at the Izaki ninja. Sasuke had activated his Sharingan. He had witnessed the fight earlier as he approached Naruto for help and he could tell that the man relied on speed, something Naruto lacked but with Sasuke here with his eyes, they easily eliminated that problem.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." The Izaki ninja spoke out, "What are you doing?"

"Helping a friend." Sasuke replied back and quickly.

"Why...? Don't you want the powers Orochimaru-sama is offering you? The curse seal is a proof of that. You can still come with me and obtain that power to kill your..."

"I don't need a snake to help me!" Sasuke spat out, his red eyes glaring at the Izaki ninja, "I can obtain that power on my own. For too long, I have been alone in Konoha. I thought in the beginning that friends will just slow me down. But I was wrong. I have important people that I want to protect. Naruto and Ino showed that to me before and during the invasion. No... I will not betray Konoha because Konoha is my home!"

The Izaki ninja stood there in silence, unable to utter words to convince the container that his master wanted. It was then that he decided that if he could not bring Sasuke back, then he may as well finish him off here.

"So be it then," The dark ninja said, "I will see to it that you die here today!"


	53. Konoha is my home

**Hei, here is the new update guys! Ahaha, sorry for the delay… I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review =D**

**Next chapter, "Training for the future"**

**CHAPTER 53: KONOHA IS MY HOME**

Sasuke released his chidori and helped his team mate back to his feet. Naruto gladly accepted the gesture and now the two Gennins stared at the Izaki ninja. Sasuke still felt a little dizzy after waking up from being uncounscious but he hid it well. It would have been so much easier if his chidori had met its target but one drawback of the chidori was that it was too noisy.

Naruto was relieved that Sasuke was awake which meant that the only way Sasuke would leave Konoha is if he was forced to. The only way the Izaki ninja was going to do so would be defeating the two of them but Naruto was confident that the two should be capable of defeating the Sound ninja. After all, Naruto's weakness was fighting fast ninjas but Sasuke's sharingan would be his eyes.

"I will give you one last chance, Uchiha Sasuke," The Izaki ninja warned, "You can still receive more power from Orochimaru-sama... Leave this place with me and you can gain revenge for your clan!"

Sasuke gave a small laugh, "I will get stronger on my own. I don't need a Konoha defector to give me the strength I need."

The Izaki ninja stood there in silence. He knew his orders were not to bring harm to Sasuke since he was Orochimaru's vessel but if the vessel was not going to be compromised and had no intentions of joining him, what use would keeping the vessel be? He reasoned that Sasuke will have to be killed. Deep down, he knew that this would enrage his master and probably have his life taken, but he felt that Sasuke would be a bigger threat in the future if he was not disposed of now.

He looked at the Uchiha and could feel the red eyes of the sharingan staring back at him. The fact that the sharingan could predict his moves basically eliminates the Izaki bloodline limit of speed. Still, he had one other advantage on the two of them and it should give him the edge in overcoming the sharingan.

Sasuke had to put up a brave front but he could still not understand why he was trembling in fear. He glanced at Naruto and could also see that he was shaking in fear and knew that this was no coincidence.

"Naruto, what's up with this feeling...?"

Naruto gave a weak laugh, "You noticed it, huh? It seems that's one of the Izaki clan's abilities, to instill fear into our nervous system. Something like that from what he explained. That makes it difficult to fight when we're shaking in fear and add to the fact that he's fast, he obviously has a huge advantage over us."

Sasuke stared at his trembling hands. It was true. It would be difficult for him to fight equally when he was shaking all the time. He remembered in the academy that fear would reduce one's fighting potential down to thirty percent.

"I need you to cover me for a minute," Naruto spoke, "The technique I used earlier with the wind elements to sense him is gone. I need to use that to sense his movements."

Sasuke nodded and took out a brand new kunai, "No problem. I must admit though that the fight I had earlier in Konoha still has some effects on me but..."

A kunai flew past Sasuke's head by an inch. Sasuke stepped back from surprise and watched the Izaki ninja running towards him. Focusing his sharingan on the enmy's movements, the young Uchiha engaged the enemy, leaving Naruto behind to gather the wind chakra to sense the enemy.

Sasuke attacked first, his kunai coming into contact with the Izaki ninja's own kunai and the two engaged in a close-combat battle. The two were evenly matched with none of the two able to spot an opening. Sasuke aimed for the shoulder and was easily evaded by the Sound ninja, but Sasuke needed that. Quickly, he drew out a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag and threw it into the cold water and the Uchiha immediately jumped from his location. The Izaki ninja also jumped as the tag exploded beneath the water, creating an artificial waterfall for a few seconds. This blinded the vision of both ninjas but Sasuke grinned and formed a number of seals.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

The Izaki ninja was caught by surprise and had to jump to his side to avoid the oncoming fireball. However, Sasuke anticipated quickly and when the Izaki ninja landed on his new position, Sasuke was already there. Sasuke delivered a kick to his opponent's ribs. The Izaki cringed in pain but grabbed Sasuke's leg that kicked him and threw him towards the cliff. Sasuke landed easily on the cliff with his feet, applying chakra to his feet to keep him on the cliff.

'That's strange,' Sasuke thought as he jumped down and landed on the cold water, his red eyes never leaving the Izaki ninja, 'His speed slowed down for a moment just now. But why?'

Naruto also noticed the decrease in speed and then it hit him. Sasuke used a fire technique earlier and the fireball had created a sort of artificial light for a moment. It gave the valley some bit of lighting which decreased the Izaki ninja's movements. He never told Sasuke about the other technique of the Izaki ninja which was to use darkness to increase his speed.

The Izaki ninja was also surprised by his reduced speed. He easily concluded that the fireball he avoided had slowed him down as it gave some bit of lighting. Not wanting Sasuke to process the information, he quickly charged towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha heir followed the Izaki ninja's movements with his sharingan and when the Sound ninja was close enough, he covered the remaining distance in hopes to catch the Izaki ninja by surprise. Sasuke revealed a kunai and nearly sliced the enemy's right shoulder. The Sound ninja grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrist and quickly delivered a number of blows to Sasuke's gut. Each punch caused Sasuke to cough out a small amount of blood and the Izaki ninja took advantage of this. The Uchiha was surprised by the sheer strength and knew he had to get out of this situation. As he was still holding the kunai, he used his wrist to throw at the Izaki ninja's head. Since the range was so close, the Izaki ninja barely avoided the kunai, feeling the cold metal whistle past his cheek.

Sasuke used the one second advantage of the Izaki ninja's surprise by delivering a punch of his own at the gut. Although it was not as powerful, it was enough to turn the tide of the fight. Sasuke jumped and delivered a kick at the right cheek of the Izaki ninja. The kick left a bruised mark and caused the Izaki ninja to finally to collapse on his back, the water splashing loudly.

Naruto by then had finished his elemental detection technique and went off to support Sasuke. The Izaki ninja could hear Naruto's steps approaching on the water and knew he would be in trouble. Sasuke, thanks to his family's bloodline technique was able to keep up with his movements and with the nine-tailed host to add, he was definitely in trouble. However, he calculated that Naruto was about two hundred meters away and it would be enough to get some space between him and the two Konoha brats. The Izaki ninja quickly got back on his feet but Sasuke immediately engaged him in battle, planning to buy time until Naruto arrives.

Naruto was still quite a distance away and the Izaki ninja quickly took advantage. Sasuke was about to deliver a fist at his bleeding face when he grabbed hold of Sasuke's fist and counter-attacked immediately, delivering his elbow at Sasuke's forehead. The impact was devastating and immediately left a black mark with a small amount of blood seeping. With Sasuke stunned, he took hold of Sasuke's collar and threw him at the oncoming blond ninja.

The nine-tailed host was caught by surprise and held onto Sasuke, the impact causing Naruto to almost lose his balance. Since the fight began between Sasuke and the Sound ninja, this was the first time they had to pause with space between them.

"Sasuke, I forgot to tell you but the Izaki clan has another ability in their bloodline limit. He can manipulate the darkness around him to increase his speed and also killing intent." Naruto informed Sasuke.

"Manipulate darkness into speed?" Sasuke thought back about his fight a few seconds ago, "That explains why his speed slowed down earlier."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Your fire techniques create an artificial light which basically destroys his ability."

"But we still have our fear…"

"Still," Naruto pressed on, "We now have our advantage back at least…"

The Izaki ninja cursed his misfortune. He had to end this fight quick and take out the Uchiha. If he succeeds in disposing of him, he wouldn't care if the blonde brat finished him off. Sasuke would be a menace to his master if he remains with Konoha which was exactly the case.

With Naruto and Sasuke finally done with their strategy, they focused their sights on their foe. From above the valley, it looked as if the two giant statues of the first Hokage and Uchiha Madara were witnessing the battle. Without saying a word, Naruto made the first move.

Naruto sprinted towards his enemy but he disappeared the moment Naruto was close. Fortunately, the blonde ninja could detect his enemy's movements and blocked the kick that was aimed for his head. Naruto withdrew a kunai from his pouch to slash the Izaki's body but that was met by the Sound ninja's own kunai.

Sasuke appeared from behind and was to deliver the killing blow. The Izaki ninja was quick though, quickly disengaging from Naruto to evade the kunai that would have plunged his back. Sasuke's sharingan followed the Izaki ninja's movements and delivered a kick but the Izaki ninja managed to block it with his right forearm.

However, fighting two Gennins that were on the level of a Chuunin proved to be too much as Naruto finally found an opening, delivering a mid-air kick to the Izaki ninja's side of the head, throwing him off his feet and away from the two Konoha ninjas. The Izaki ninja cursed in frustration, feeling the red liquid seeping on the corner of his lips.

"You guys are pretty good." The Sound ninja praised. Deep down, he knew that they were far from good. They would easily defeat him if he did not think of something quick.

"We don't have time to waste," Sasuke spoke out and immediately prepared a set number of seals, "The next attack will be your end!"

"Fire release! Great dragon release technique!"

Despite just being a kid in the Izaki ninja's eye, the technique used was a high-rank fire technique and not to mention that the size of the flames were huge. The fire-shaped dragon was coming at him extremely fast and he barely dodged the flames by skipping to his right, feeling the intense heat passing by him. He actually could have dodged the flames easily but the flames created a small amount of light, thus disabling the Izaki bloodline ability.

The Izaki ninja then felt a chakra presence from behind and turned to discover Naruto there throwing a fist at him. He blocked it with his left palm but before he could even counter-attack, Sasuke kicked the Izaki ninja's ankles, tripping him in the process. The two Konoha Gennins were quick though. While he was still in mid-air, before he could even land on the cold water, the two Gennins each grabbed his leg and spun him around before tossing him to the nearest cliff.

The force of the throw was powerful but he managed to spin around at the last moment and land his feet on the cliff, the rocks cracking from the forceful impact. The Uchiha and the blonde ninja was not going to stop their attacks however since they sprinted towards the Izaki ninja immediately to continue increasing the pressure.

The Sound ninja had to admit that what they were doing was smart. As an experienced ninja, he knew that the more you were put on the defensive; the attacker would slowly find an opening in the end. That was why sometimes the ninja on the defensive had to counter-attack or else it would be his end in the fight. The Izaki ninja jumped from the cliff and landed on the cold water, watching the two ninjas coming at him.

'Their teamwork is flawless,' He thought, 'The only way I could gain back the momentum is to separate them and finish one of them first…' With that plan in mind, he formed four seals.

"Water release! Pathway destruction technique!"

The water beneath the Izaki ninja suddenly raised six meters above. Sasuke and Naruto stopped their run and watched the wall of water in front of them. For two seconds, none of them moved. It was like watching in slow motion as the wall of water came down and crashed back down, creating a powerful wave of water. Sasuke jumped into the air to escape and Naruto did the same. The Izaki ninja grinned as his planned worked and he too jumped into the air, going after Naruto.

"You're mine now, brat!" He screamed, taking out a brand new kunai.

The Izaki ninja was fast again but luckily Naruto could still sense his movements with his wind elements around the area. Naruto blocked the kunai that was aimed at his chest. The Izaki ninja cursed loudly and continued to attack but Naruto was able to block each of the strikes.

"Fire release! Phoenix wrath technique!"

As Naruto and the Izaki ninja was still in the air, Sasuke was already down below on the water. The Izaki ninja looked down below and could see a small fire-shaped phoenix coming at him. Sasuke grinned from where he stood. Although the 'phoenix wrath technique' was weak in terms of destructive power, it was the smallest in terms of size but one of the fastest.

The Izaki ninja planned to use a water technique to destroy the fire-shaped phoenix but he forgot about Naruto. The young blonde ninja took the opportunity to slash the Izaki ninja's left forearm which stopped the Izaki ninja from creating any seals due to the injury. The phoenix blasted the Izaki ninja from below and he screamed from the pain. Also, it created a small amount of light which once more disabled the Izaki ninja's increase in speed.

"You're mine now!" Naruto said and delivered a fist to the Sound ninja's gut. The Sound ninja coughed out blood and with the man bending forward, Naruto delivered a finishing move. He raised his right foot, charging up his strength and delivered a kick to the back of the Sound ninja's head.

"Naruto rendan!"

The kick sent the man down towards the water and the kick was powerful enough to send the man deep into the cold water.

Naruto finally landed next to Sasuke and stared at where the Izaki ninja fell. The two could see bubbles still popping on the surface of the water, indicating that he was still alive. However, the fact that the Sound ninja got hit by the phoenix, a large cut to his left forearm and one of Naruto's finishing Taijutsu move, it should be over.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

Sasuke nodded, sighing in relief, "I should be asking you that. If I didn't arrive on time to help you, you'd be dead by now."

Naruto had to give a chuckle at that, "Ah, I was careless. Thanks…"

Sasuke grunted in response, rubbing his temples. The fight he had in Konoha before he was captured still had some affects on him but it was enough for him to concentrate in this fight. The fight was obviously not over yet and they had to be prepared for the next round.

"Thanks for rescuing me, Naruto…"

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a few seconds, "Wow, I'd never expect you to be the kind of guy to thank people."

"You're my friend…" Sasuke admitted softly, feeling that this was indeed out of character for him, "You know… When we were first teamed up, I thought nothing of you, Ino or even Maki. But… It's different now. During the Chuunin exams, my perspective of everything changed. I feel that I've gained back some happiness that I lost all those years ago and gaining back a family. To be teamed up with you and friends with you made me realize that we become stronger when we have something we want to protect."

Naruto was silent as Sasuke continued talking. This was the sort of moment that even Naruto, who rarely kept quiet, knew that he should not interrupt. Despite the fact that their enemy could attack them at anytime now, the nine-tailed host wanted to see what Sasuke was trying to say.

"It is thanks to being with team seven that I realized… that Konoha is my home. I have no need to go to a Snake betrayer to get the powers I need for my revenge against my brother."

Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder when the Uchiha was finished speaking. No words needed to be exchanged. The two now understood that the bonds they shared right now and the bonds Sasuke had with his friends was what made him stay as a Konoha ninja. Naruto knew that if their pink haired teacher was here, he would have been proud.

"Alright, we…" Sasuke started but then, an intense pain coursed the Uchiha's body. Sasuke dropped down to his knees, clutching his neck where the curse-seal was implanted on him.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, kneeling next to his friend.

"I'm… all right. This damned seal reacts badly every time I use the sharingan for long period of time." Sasuke explained, feeling the pain leave after he deactivated his sharingan.

"You sure you're okay?"

Sasuke nodded, "But I can't keep this up. I'll need it removed in the near future."

The conversation ended there as the Izaki ninja finally appeared from the dark water, breathing heavily. Naruto and Sasuke got into a defensive stance, each of them holding onto a kunai. The Sound ninja glared at the two Gennins and slowly got back to his feet, wincing in pain. The kick he received from Naruto was still affecting him, the pain distracting him.

"Uchiha Sasuke," The Izaki ninja began, "Why…? Why would you not want to join Orochimaru-sama? Obviously, you had a taste of power from the curse seal. You know how much power Orochimaru-sama can give you…"

"Why are you serving him?" Naruto asked, ignoring his opponent's question and not letting Sasuke answer, "You know he's evil… How can you put your loyalties to a mad man like him? I can tell, you're a good man. You don't want to fight us; you prefer to avoid conflict before our fight… Even before I fought you… So why?"

The Izaki ninja stared at Naruto for a few seconds. From where he stood, he could see Naruto's eyes close to tears. He had to admit that Naruto was somewhat special. He was impressed that Naruto was able to read him just from fighting him and releasing tears of sorrow because of his good nature but loyalties to the dark side.

"Your name is Uzumaki Naruto, correct…?" The Izaki ninja questioned, his features softening.

Naruto nodded and also noticed the kind expression returning. This was unexpected since the Izaki ninja had explained that in the darkness, bloodlust and killing intention was all that was present, so how is it that this kind expression was there when they were still in the shadows of the valley.

"Uzumaki Naruto…" The man nodded, "A name that I'm sure will be remembered by many in the future." The man paused a moment, looking down and staring at his own reflection in the water, "Unlike you, I have no name. I've been given a name by the Sound four as 'Tsuchi' but that's not my name… Not the name my parents gave me."

"But I thought you have no memories of your childhood?" Naruto asked.

Tsuchi nodded, now staring at Naruto, "That is true. But, everyone have parents, or else we wouldn't exist, right?" Tsuchi clenched his fists and continued, "The only thing I remember was being raised in a laboratory and Orochimaru-sama watching over me and my siblings. As I said, there were eighty of us but we were like brothers and sisters."

"Anyway, you ask me how I can put my loyalties to a man like my master. The only reason I have is because he raised me. Many will say that he saw me as nothing but a tool but… To me, he is the only thing that I could honestly call a father. That is why I will continue to serve him, just like how you two continue to serve your village."

Tsuchi paused for another few seconds and none of the two Konoha Gennins interrupted.

"Besides, you think Konoha is that innocent? I was still an orphan when the great ninja war was still raging on. I was there. I saw Konoha ninjas burning the homes of innocent civilians just because they were with the enemy. How could they destroy the lives of people who were not involved with the war? I lost my parents to one of these raids by Konoha… So I should also ask, how can you serve Konoha when they too have a dark past…?"

"It was war," Sasuke spoke out, "It is difficult to instill proper discipline in times of war…"

"And so they should go unpunished?" The Izaki ninja challenged, chuckling and shaking his head, "You know of this, but still want to serve Konoha. It is the same as me. Orochimaru-sama may be seen as an evil threat, but I've seen the good in him also…"

Naruto understood what the Izaki was trying to point out. He had asked how he could obey Orochimaru when that man was already evil but that was only in their eyes. However, Tsuchi owed his life to the Snake sannin and saw the good in him. Naruto knew there was no way to convince the man otherwise.

Tsuchi, the Izaki ninja was having difficulty in breathing. The phoenix fire blast he received earlier had wounded his left thigh badly and this was constricting his movements. Basically, even if he had the ability of converting darkness to speed, it was useless since his movements have been reduced.

There was silence once more in the valley as the three ninjas stood their ground, waiting for the other to make their first move. During their fight, they did not notice but the clouds had darkened and at first, a few drops of rain landed on them or on the cold water. A few seconds later, a heavy downpour occurred and it soaked the three ninjas to the bone. Tsuchi had to wonder if someone was crying for this to happen. He laughed inside his head from the thought.

The two Konoha Gennins realized that the darkened clouds meant that now the whole valley was roofed with darkness. Still, they were confident that it could be dealt with. Naruto still had the wind technique emplaced to detect the Izaki ninja movements. Sasuke however knew he was limited to the use of his family bloodline due to the effects of the curse seal. Also, despite the fact that they were still trembling from the fear, the two Konoha ninjas of team seven were already used to it. It was as if they had countered the two abilities of the Izaki clan.

"So, with the rain shadowing the area, you have an advantage, right?" Naruto said with a smile.

Tsuchi gave a cold smile, "That depends…" However, he knew that the darkness was quite useless to him now since the injury to his leg.

With the cold rain pouring down, Sasuke ran ahead to engage once more in battle. However, Tsuchi felt that this might very well be his last. However, his resolve to take down the Uchiha was still there. The Uchiha threw a punch but Tsuchi evaded it by side-stepping to his right and attacked by throwing an elbow at Sasuke's right. Fortunately for Sasuke, his sharingan helped predict the attack and Sasuke blocked it. Tsuchi continued the attack though by delivering an upper-cut. Sasuke barely avoided the punch by stepping back but Tsuchi was still quick enough, delivering a powerful kick to Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke was pushed back a few feet away and Tsuchi sprinted forward and tackled Sasuke's body with his own. The sheer strength was enough to send Sasuke off his feet and landing on the cold water, flinching from the pain.

"Shadow replication technique!"

The Izaki ninja took out a new kunai and prepared to plunge the cold metal on Sasuke's heart but he was too slow. He felt someone deliver a kick on his back, throwing him off balance. Before he even fell down, someone grabbed him by the collar and threw him towards the cliff. Still in mid-air, another person delivered a kick on his back, sending down to the cold water, coughing out blood from the kick.

Tsuchi himself was trembling from the pain. He carried his body on all fours, feeling the red liquid seeping from the corner of his mouth. He saw Naruto helping Sasuke up and another three of the blonde ninjas surrounding them to protect them.

"Shadow clones?" Tsuchi spoke out in an amused tone, "That's a very high rank technique you have there…"

Naruto did not reply and his clones charged towards him while the original and the Uchiha stayed behind. Tsuchi got back to his feet and prepared for the attack of the clones. Unfortunately for him, he could feel the effects of the battle destroying him.

'Have I overdone it?' Tsuchi thought when he felt a sharp pain on his chest.

**Flashback…**

Tsuchi waited for the results in the cold, dark room, wondering what Kabuto was going to tell him. His conditions in battle were deteriorating every time he engaged in battle and could not figure out why. Another jolt of pain occurred on his chest and he clutched his chest in hopes to sooth the pain.

When he heard the door creaking open, he quickly got back to his feet. Kabuto approached Tsuchi while reading some papers. Kabuto sighed and placed the papers on a nearby table and stared at Tsuchi in the eyes. From the silence, Tsuchi could somehow tell it was bad news.

"Have you found out… what's happening to me?"

Kabuto nodded, "It seems that the Izaki bloodline limit you obtained is the cause."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain," Kabuto said and picked up the stack of papers, "It seems that unlike most bloodline limits, the Izaki clan abilities do not require chakra, as you should obviously know."

Tsuchi nodded and Kabuto continued, "The Izaki clan is born with bodies that somehow absorb the darkness and changing it to increase in speed. Basically, it is an advanced form of adrenaline. They are born with special cells that allow them to use these abilities whenever they are in the dark without any use of chakra. Unfortunately for you, you were given the bloodline limit through artificial means. You do not have the body of an Izaki clan and your cells are ordinary cells like us. Your cells are being overworked to use the Izaki clan abilities and it is affecting your health in a very bad way…"

"But, that means I just have to control myself right? If I do not use the abilities, I will be fine, right?" Tsuchi questioned.

Kabuto sighed sadly, "Tsuchi, you cannot control your cells. The bloodline limit will automatically activate the moment you're in the dark. And the more you use the Izaki powers, the more your cells are damaged… This will ultimately lead to your death, I'm afraid."

**End flashback…**

Naruto and Sasuke could see that Tsuchi was struggling by now with the clones. His fighting ability was now much worse than before. He was panting heavily and kept clutching on to his chest. Sasuke activated his sharingan and after reading the Izaki ninja's movements, he shook his head.

"I don't know what is going on," Sasuke said, "But, I believe he is dying."

"What…? Why?"

Sasuke shook his head, not willing to give any answers. Naruto knew that he was their enemy but he didn't want to see a good person die before his eyes. Naruto clenched his fist in anger, wondering in his head why a person like Tsuchi had to be their enemy.

The Izaki ninja finally destroyed the last of Naruto's clones and from the pain, he dropped to his knees, panting heavily and blood seeping out of his mouth more now. The pain was intolerable by now and knew he was going to die. He felt disgusted by the fact that he couldn't even finish his last task; to kill Uchiha Sasuke.

Despite all this though, he smiled at the two brats before him. Throughout his time serving his master, he had never met an enemy that questioned his loyalties and to actually see the good in him. Everyone he encountered saw him as a monster that had no morals. No, this was a first time.

"This is pathetic," Tsuchi said with a smile, "To die not from the hands of a ninja but by my own weak body… I couldn't even finish the last task my master had assigned me; to capture Sasuke… Damn it all…"

Naruto stared at his fallen enemy with sadness. The pouring rain was not comforting anyone at all. Sasuke could tell the man was losing the battle for his life and for the first time in his life, felt sorry for an enemy dying.

"Do you wish to die honorably then?" A voice asked.

Naruto and Sasuke were caught by surprise to find Kakashi standing behind the kneeling Izaki ninja. Tsuchi smiled though. He had already sensed Kakashi's presence a while back and turned to face to copy ninja. Kakashi waited for Tsuchi's answer, staring at him with his lazy eye.

"Please… Fulfill at least my last wish…" Tsuchi answered, closing his eyes and waiting.

Kakashi sighed and with his kunai, finished the deed quickly and least painful as possible. Tsuchi gasped for the last time and slowly fell back. Kakashi got hold of the man, and closed the man's eyes, wishing him a safe journey in the afterlife. Tsuchi's body lay on the cold water and ever so slowly, descended down in to the dark water in the valley of the end.

"Why…?" Naruto asked Kakashi, "Why kill him when we could save him? You guys are here…"

"Don't be too naïve, Naruto…" A voice spoke. Sasuke and Naruto turned behind to find their pink haired teacher behind them. Maki was staring at the place where Tsuchi laid, "He couldn't be saved. His body was not fit to carry the bloodline which resulted in his death. You're still young, Naruto… You want to see everyone live a peaceful life, to get along with everyone…"

Maki looked up at the dark clouds as the rain poured down, "Everyone wants that, but this is the real world. As long as ninjas have enemies, we can never have that sort of life. You cannot save everyone that you befriend, Naruto. Keep that in mind."

"But…" Naruto began to protest but Maki cut him off.

"You're special, Naruto. You see the good in everyone and that is rare in these days, especially to the adults now that were part of the ninja war. We have seen the ugly side of people and we know. You're young, Naruto. Maybe one day you'll understand."

Naruto nodded glumly but refused to accept that kind of ideology. The blonde ninja feel that everyone could be given a chance.

"We should leave soon." Maki said. Naruto and Sasuke obeyed but Naruto suddenly felt too tired and then, fell unconscious from exhaustion. Maki grabbed Naruto before he hit the cold water and carried Naruto on his back. The pink haired Jounin didn't blame Naruto. He had been on the mission hours ago and fought numerous ninjas. It was definitely exhausting for a twelve year old Gennin.

"By the way, Sasuke," Maki spoke out, "I'm proud of you. You finally see that you don't have to face this world alone."

Sasuke grinned, staring at his unconscious friend. Indeed, Naruto had been the factor to show him that. Konoha is his home and he was a Konoha ninja. He was not going to betray the place where he grew up.

"Let's go," Kakashi ordered, "Before trouble arrives…"

Maki nodded and the three Konoha ninjas left the area with Naruto carried by Maki. As they climbed the valley and entered the forests once more, Himura joined them and was relieved to see the Gennins safe. She had stayed behind just in case any reinforcements arrived and she was to take care of them.

Kakashi explained to Sasuke that Himura and her team were dispatched to assist in retrieving him. The three Jounin continued their way back home when Sasuke realized two chakra presence were close. Then, Gaara appeared from his right with Sakura and they joined the group.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said with surprise, "You were part of the rescue mission?"

Sakura nodded, "I'm glad you're safe, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded and then Sakura saw her unconscious boyfriend.

"Naruto-kun!"

Sasuke had to chuckle as Sakura immediately barraged their teacher with questions. The young Uchiha glared at Gaara who only stared at ahead. He could feel that the red haired boy somehow seemed more at peace compared to the time at the Chuunin exams.

After the exhausting first A-rank mission, Naruto could finally return. Sasuke was back and Shikamaru had successfully completed his first mission as a Chuunin. Kiba and Chouji were the main worries but both were safe. Kiba had to be hospitalized for three weeks due to his severe injuries and Sakura herself had to be rested for a week due to chakra depletion.

**On the cliff of the valley…**

"Our orders were to capture the nine-tailed host," A voice said, "What the hell are we doing?"

"Calm down," The black figure replied, watching the two Jounins retreating, "We wouldn't have stood a chance with those two."

"What? Two Jounins?" The white figure asked.

"Those two Jounins are a threat when they're together," The black figure explained, "The 'twin kages' is what they're known together. There is no point in trying to obtain the nine-tailed host when we could get ourselves killed in the process."

"So, do we return back to the hideout…?" The white figure asked.

"Yeah… We'll report to _him_ about our reason to not capture the host."

With that, Zetsu sunk down to the muddy ground, never leaving a trace that they were there. That was when Kakashi realized that their chakra presence was gone and could calm himself down now.

"Looks like we're safe now…" Maki commented without letting Sasuke hear.

Kakashi simply nodded. It looks like Akatsuki were already on the move. He could tell that he and Maki will be meeting with the toad Sannin soon about this…


	54. Recovery and departure

**Hei guys, here's the new update. I apologise that I wrote in the previous chapter that this chapter would be titled "Training for the future." Unfortunately, that is reserved for the next chapter so I hope you will enjoy this chapter too. I hope you all will enjoy this and do drop a review =D  
Next chapter, as I wrote, "Training for the future." The shippuden arc for this story is drawing near, yay!**

**CHAPTER 54: RECOVERY & DEPARTURE**

It had been two days since the success of the mission on retrieving Sasuke that was abducted by the Sound four. Although Shikamaru and Naruto were one of the few that came back in good physical shape, they were still ordered to be checked up by medical ninjas. Shikamaru suffered from a broken finger in his fight but was fine in other areas. Naruto was told to remain in the hospital for another three days due to the anxious feelings from his fight with the Izaki ninja. Sasuke also was hospitalized for at least four to five days due to his injuries in his fight but it was also an excuse for the council to watch over Sasuke.

However, Sakura, Chouji and Kiba were the ones with injuries that were severe. Sakura had to be hospitalized for at least ten days due to chakra exhaustion. The pink haired girl had used too much chakra for her body to handle. Chouji would have to remain in the hospital in the same duration as Sakura due to his injuries to his head. The Inuzuka ninja however, would be forced to remain at least a month due to his severe wounds from being stabbed. Neji was also in critical condition and the Hokage's assistant, Shizune, was personally healing him with the help of several medic-nins.

Of course, the council were informed about Sasuke's kidnap and they immediately panicked, worried that their remaining Uchiha was gone. They were relieved when they were informed that he had been retrieved successfully and were surprised that the newly appointed Chuunin, Nara Shikamaru, was the leader of such a mission. They reprimanded the Hokage for sending such an inexperienced ninja to retrieve Sasuke. After a brief explanation however, they were highly impressed on how Shikamaru had done in such a short amount of time.

It was now nine in the morning of the second day since the mission. Although Maki and Kakashi were not injured in the mission, he was given a three day break for his troubles, ordered directly by the council members. It was a way the council gave thanks to them for rescuing their precious Uchiha.

On the streets of Konoha, Suyuki and Maki were on their way to the hospital to visit Sakura. Suyuki was worried sick when she heard that Sakura had gone on an emergency S-rank mission even after being assured that her uncle was with her. When they returned, Suyuki was relieved and also gave her brother-in law hell for taking her on such a high rank mission. However, deep down, she was also proud that her daughter was progressing well in her ninja career, much like how her father did.

Suyuki had to do her grocery shopping earlier and once that was done, ordered Maki to deliver it home. However, it came to no surprise that the pink haired Jounin simply created a clone to complete the task so that he could continue on their walk to the hospital.

"If you never brought her along on the mission, we wouldn't even have to go to the hospital." Suyuki said.

Maki sighed softly, "Listen, I'm sorry but it was an emergency. Besides, you can't complain the bonus we received for the mission. Not to mention the extra funds we received from the council. The money could last at least a month without me going on missions."

"That's not the point!" Suyuki scolded, "If something were to happen to Sakura…"

Maki nodded and Suyuki knew that he understood. Although he was merely an uncle to Sakura, he loved her like a father would love his daughter. He protected his niece not just because of the promise he kept to his deceased brother but because he cared for Sakura. Suyuki decided to end their discussion there.

It was five minutes later when the two reached the hospital. Suyuki was only here to visit her daughter but Maki was here to see his students but Sakura came first. They could see the nurses passing through to tend to the patient and several medic-nins caring for the injuries of ninjas. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and headed for the ward that Sakura was at. They finally arrived at the ward and Sakura was awake, sitting on the bed and looking outside the window. The ward was for six people and the other patients there were still sleeping, their friends and families sitting next to their bed.

"Morning, Sakura…" Maki greeted, which surprised the girl.

"Uncle Maki," Sakura replied, smiling and then turned towards her mother, "Mom…"

Suyuki smiled and took a sit, "How are you feeling today?"

Sakura shrugged and lay down on her pillow, "Better than yesterday I guess. I think I could leave tomorrow but the doctors still insist I stay for the remaining eight days."

Suyuki smiled at Sakura's pouting expression, "You have to be patient, sweetie. I'm sure the doctors just want to make sure you're in peak condition when you leave. After all, they know best."

"I guess…" Sakura then looked at her uncle, "Uncle Maki, anything new with what happened?"

Maki shook his head, "Nothing much really. The council is obviously shaken up about the fact that Sasuke was taken. They're relieved we retrieved him back and after the panic, are extremely impressed with all the Gennins involved in the retrieval mission."

Maki paused and then continued, "However, I believe they're going to be keeping an eye on Sasuke now. That means Sasuke will, most of the time, be kept in the village. His chances of taking missions outside the village will be restricted."

"That's not fair!" Sakura protested and was about to say some more when Maki interrupted, "Don't worry; I believe Tsunade-sama is in the process of 'convincing' the council about this matter. We should hear something soon."

The pink haired Jounin could understand why Sakura was against this decision. If Sasuke was restricted on missions, then it would definitely affect the team. Maki had explained to Sakura about this yesterday and that was why she had asked for an update. Honestly, Maki felt that the council will allow Sasuke to continue to do missions since he is the Jounin in charge and the council trusts his skills in protecting him. Not to mention that he has connection with the toad Sannin.

"Alright, you just stay here with Sakura," Maki said to Suyuki, "I have to check up on my other students."

Suyuki nodded and Maki left the ward. Suyuki continued conversing with her daughter and felt they were getting closer than last time. Mother and daughter have always been close but ever since she stopped insulting Naruto, the demon container, Sakura was much happier in the house then. She still had doubts on Naruto, but the fact that the boy had not harmed her daughter, she felt that maybe she did misjudge the boy simply because he contained the demon.

"Did you bring me the book I asked?" Sakura enquired, snapping Suyuki from her thoughts.

"Book?" It took Suyuki a moment, "Oh, right, I have it." Suyuki took out a book from the bag she brought along and handed it to Sakura. It was another one of those many romance novels Sakura had in her room. Sakura had requested it since she was bored of remaining in the hospital with nothing to do.

"Honestly, you shouldn't read so much of those books."

"But I'm so bored…" Sakura replied, "Besides, I love romance novels!

Suyuki rolled her eyes, "Those books are just fiction, Sakura. In the real world, not all love stories end happily ever after."

"But…" Sakura then had a thought struck on her, "Hei, mom… You never did tell me about how you and dad met."

Sakura had a brief idea when Maki told her about the first day her dad and mom met. He said it was on the day her father was promoted to Jounin but nothing more. Also, her uncle had mostly told stories of her father as a ninja but she wanted to know the life between her mother and father. Her uncle didn't know much about that.

Suyuki was surprised by the question. It was true though. In all her life, she never did tell Sakura much about her father. She would normally change the subject because she didn't want to be reminded of her deceased husband. But, perhaps it was time to tell her. Besides, the fact that she didn't burst into tears upon hearing Sakura saying 'father' probably meant that she was beginning to move on.

"How I and your father met…?" Suyuki repeated with humor, "Well, let's see… It was on a fine afternoon…"

**Hospital corridor…**

Haruno Maki was happy to leave the two alone. He felt that ever since Sakura became a ninja, she didn't spend enough time with her mother. He was now off to visit his favorite blonde student. Even though he was told to stay in the hospital for three days, Maki felt that was unnecessary. For a normal ninja, yes, but Naruto had the Kyuubi in him and his recoveries were faster than that of a normal person.

As he climbed the stairs to the third floor, he remembered how often he was sent to the hospital during his time as a Chuunin. He took up a large amount of missions, mostly B-ranks just to catch up quickly with his brother who was a Jounin. In just a year, he was promoted to Jounin and six months later, received the rank of an elite Jounin.

He found it funny that he, Kakashi and the others were given ranks of elite Jounin even though no such rank exists. The highest class was a Jounin and the class of elite Jounin was basically an unofficial rank. The rank was just to categorize the Jounins that were of higher class and skill, those that could have entered the ANBU black opts if they chose but refuse to do so.

On the third floor, he found it surprisingly quiet. Of course hospitals were always hushed but when Naruto was present, it would have been the opposite. The fact that Naruto was not causing a ruckus surprised him. The pink haired Jounin made his way to the ward Naruto was in and he finally found his student laying on his bed and being treated by a doctor.

"Oh come on," Naruto complained, "I told you I'm feeling great. Why can't I be released already?"

"Two reasons," The doctor said used his fingers to indicate the number, "One, we still have to make sure everything is okay with you. I admit that you're recovering much quicker than most people but we have to be certain. And second, we have direct orders by the Hokage to keep you in the hospital for the duration."

Before Naruto could protest once more, Maki entered Naruto's view, "Just listen to him, Naruto. The doctor knows best for you."

"Maki-sensei!" Naruto greeted in surprise with a wide grin.

"I see that you're back to your old self." Maki said with a grin of his own.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I'm bored of lying down here. I feel great enough to get out of here."

Maki chuckled lightly, "Well, you heard the doctor. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't want to go against whatever the Hokage had ordered me to do."

The pink haired Jounin could see the doctor shudder when he said that. He guessed that Tsunade promised hell would break lose if Naruto was released sooner. He didn't understand why the Hokage would be so insistent on this order but he was not going to go and question her. The fact that the toad Sannin himself would prefer to not go against her was proof that to not question her orders.

The doctor continued checking on Naruto for the next two minutes so the blonde haired Gennin and his teacher just stared at the doctor, waiting for him to finish his job. The doctor finally left, leaving the Jounin and his student alone.

"But I'm proud of you Naruto." Maki continued, "If you didn't intercept that Izaki ninja in the valley of the end, I have no doubt that Orochimaru would have Sasuke by now."

Naruto grinned, "Sasuke's a friend and like a brother to me. There was no way I was going to let him go."

"I'm not only proud of you for that, but also because you were able to last against a ninja that was at least a Jounin level single-handedly."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, blushing at his teacher's praise, "Well, Sasuke helped me…"

"True," Maki agreed but continued his point, "But, according to Sasuke, you held the enemy off for at least ten minutes on your own. You're just a graduate from the academy a few months ago and you're already at a Chuunin level. That's impressive Naruto so you don't have to be so modest."

Naruto nodded his thanks once more. What Maki said was true though. Naruto had just graduated a few months back along with Sasuke and Sakura, and the three had progressed quickly. Of course he had been training Naruto and his niece for the previous two years. As for Sasuke, he was already star student of his graduating year so it was no surprise that he was an equal to Naruto and not to mention that he was the brother of Uchiha Itachi, a member of Akatsuki, an S-rank criminal.

Maki then got an idea, "Since you're so bored, what about we visit Sasuke? I plan to check up on him after visiting you."

"Are we allowed to?"

"What do you mean?" Maki enquired.

"I tried to visit him yesterday but there were ANBU ninjas guarding his room. They told me no one was allowed to visit him, direct orders from the council."

Maki was not that surprised to hear that. The one thing he hated about the council was that they all overreact in times like these. He had not visited his students yesterday so he was not informed of this. But, although it may have been a huge setback for Naruto, it was no problem for him.

"Come on, let's just go ahead."

Naruto was about to voice out his thoughts but Maki stopped him, "Don't worry, I think I can get through them after talking with them."

With that, Maki made his way out of the ward and Naruto followed behind his teacher, although he was wondering how the hell Maki was going to get through the ANBU ninjas. They seemed to be quite persistent at not allowing anyone through. However, Naruto trusted his teacher and would just see what the Jounin would do.

Sasuke's room was at the far end of the third floor so it would take half a minute to get there. The blonde haired ninja was relieved to finally walk again after being repeatedly told by the doctors and nurses to remain in bed. He was hoping to visit his pink haired girlfriend after visiting the Uchiha.

Maki finally spotted Sasuke's room and just like what Naruto had said, there were two ANBU guards stationed there, standing still as if they were statues. The one on the left was wearing a boar mask while the right wore a hawk mask and had a white band wrapped around his right shoulder, indicating his rank of an ANBU captain.

Maki continued walking ahead and when he was finally at the door of Sasuke's room, the boar mask ANBU intercepted Maki's path, glaring at the Jounin eye to eye.

"I'm sorry," The boar mask ANBU began, "But no one is allowed to enter."

"He's my student and I feel I have the right to check up on his well-being."

The boar mask ANBU was not going to move though, "We have direct orders to not allow…"

"It's alright, Kaki," The hawk mask ANBU said suddenly, of course using 'kaki' as the codename of his team mate, "He can pass."

The boar mask ANBU turned towards his superior, surprise on his face although it was hidden by his mask, "But…"

"You heard the man." Maki added on.

The boar mask ANBU was reluctant for a second and then stepped back and returned to his position. Maki opened the door, gave a nod of thanks to the hawk mask ANBU and entered the room. Naruto was impressed and stuck out his tongue at the boar mask ANBU and quickly entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"I don't understand Yamato," The boar mask ANBU began, not agreeing to disobey what the council ordered him to, "Why do we let them pass? We have direct orders not to let anyone through."

Yamato, the hawk mask ANBU released a small laugh, "I take it you're new to the ANBU?"

The boar mask ANBU nodded in affirmative and Yamato continued, "And you do know who that was just now, right?"

Again, the boar mask ANBU nodded. Yamato nodded also and continued, "Then you know of his reputation in Konoha and in the ninja world. You see, in ANBU, although by right, we're of higher rank than the Jounins here, there are certain Jounins that we in ANBU respect and basically, are lower to."

"What do you mean?" The boar mask ANBU was confused.

"It means that certain requests made by these… 'Elite' Jounins should be allowed even if the council ordered us not to, as we saw earlier, let anyone in. There's no harm in doing that. The council is just paranoid about the situation and these elite Jounins, we can trust that they won't do anything."

"I must admit, that not all ANBUs think like you, senpai," The boar mask ANBU stated, "Was there an influence?"

Yamato chuckled, "Indeed. I'm sure you've heard of Hatake Kakashi…?"

"Who have not? He shares the same reputation of Maki-san."

Yamato nodded, "He was my senpai and he spoke out his thoughts of the ANBU. So, just remember that the elite Jounins, although they are lower in rank to us, they have more respect by the whole of Konoha ninjas, and that includes the ANBU black opts."

**Sasuke's room…**

"Maki-sensei, Naruto…" Sasuke greeted, "I'm surprised you got through the ANBU guards."

"They're friends of yours, Maki-sensei?" Naruto questioned, referring to the hawk mask ANBU.

"I don't have any connections within ANBU," Maki explained, "But they respect most of the elite Jounins of Konoha to help us." Maki stood next to Sasuke's bed, "So, how're you feeling?"

Sasuke shrugged in a cool manner, "I'm fine, but I still feel the pain from the sealing process."

Maki knew what he meant. When Sasuke had made it back safely to Konoha and treated for his injuries, Kakashi warned the council that the curse seal on Sasuke was having negative effects on Sasuke, especially on the usage of techniques and his Sharingan. The council immediately ordered Kakashi and other ninjas that were in knowledge of sealing to suppress Sasuke's cursed seal. The curse seal was now suppressed with a level four protection, which would be very difficult for the seal to break out. For now, the council would have to be content with that. The removal of the curse seal was a much more risky and complicated task that only Jiraiya had the knowledge of, but he could not be found.

It seems that because Sasuke was unconsciously rejecting the curse seal and the seal was thus forcing Sasuke to use it. It was brilliant of Orochimaru to place a seal that would tempt Sasuke but just like Kakashi and Maki had advised him, by relying on his own will power and determination, Sasuke prevailed.

"Glad to see you're doing fine, idiot." Naruto joked.

"That should be my line," Sasuke countered with a smirk, "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead by now."

"You arrogant bastard!"

"You dobe…"

Maki sighed as the two Gennins got into one of their many numbers of quarrels but it was something that the two used to bond with one another. Despite all the insults, the two had created a bond that could be comparable to siblings. With Sasuke's loss of family and Naruto always alone, the two shared something in common. The pink haired teacher watched his students catching up with one another and he just stood there, enjoying the fact that his student was still here.

Haruno Maki was proud that Sasuke had no desire to join the Sound village. If the young Uchiha had that in mind, no doubt that even if Naruto had beaten his friend to a pulp, Sasuke would never remain in Konoha and find other ways to escape, even if it meant killing those dear to him. He was glad that Naruto, himself and anyone else involved with Sasuke were able to change his mind.

"Maki-sensei," Sasuke turned at his teacher after finally chatting up with Naruto, "Tell me what's going on."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto could tell that their teacher was avoiding the question so he pushed on, "We want to know the truth. Why are they after Sasuke? And two weeks ago, why was Itachi's brother after me? What's going on?"

Naruto had unintentionally raised his voice at the end and he realized it. He tried to control his temper but his desire for the truth was too much. Sasuke did not blink and his expression told Maki that he too demanded an explanation. He knew he would have to tell them. He planned to, so he saw no reason why not. He remembered the meeting he had with Kakashi, Jiraiya and the Hokage.

**Flashback…**

A day after the retrieval mission, Jiraiya had requested a meeting with those he trusted and even included his old teacher, who was now one of the senior council of Konoha. Maki delivered a message to Jiraiya through the toads regarding the actions of Orochimaru on his sights on Sasuke and also the fact that they spotted an Akatsuki member on a cliff nearby. The Akatsuki member only retreated when Kakashi and Maki arrived to retrieve Sasuke and Naruto.

Kakashi and Maki arrived at Hokage's room together. They closed the door behind them and approach the Hokage's desk. The former Hokage, Sarutobi was already there, staring out the window at the village of Konoha in the night. The current Hokage, Tsunade, nodded her head in greeting to her two elite Jounins.

"Where's Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't worry, I'm here." A voice said from the window.

The two Jounins saw that the great toad Sannin was sitting outside one of the windows, the darkness hiding his figure. Jiraiya entered the room and shut the window now that everyone was present. Sarutobi cast a barrier technique surrounding the room so that anything said within the room could not be heard from the outside.

"I'm sure you all know what this meeting is about…?" Tsunade questioned the two Jounins.

Maki and Kakashi shook their heads. They knew that the meeting was to brief them on the current situations but had no idea what they were going to be discussing about. When the toad messenger informed Maki and later Kakashi about the gathering, it only told them to arrive at this time, nothing more.

Tsunade explained, "As we all know, the threat of the Akatsuki almost capturing Naruto created an alarm among the council last week. The fact that now, Orochimaru acted to capture Sasuke is already putting the council into a state of panic."

"So, we're here to discuss about the risk of Naruto and Sasuke getting captured…?" Maki asked although it was more of a rhetorical question.

Sarutobi entered the conversation now, "Indeed. As a council member now, I understand the concerns but I also understand that being ninjas, it's not so easy. The fact that Akatsuki are comprised of S-rank criminals is a major problem. We now know that Uchiha Itachi is a member and partnered with the monster of the mist, Hoshigaki Kisame. The two combined are a threat that is not easy to be dealt with."

"Not to mention," Tsunade backed up, "That Itachi and Kisame are just comprised of one team. From what Jiraiya has gathered so far, he says…" Tsunade ended her line there, turning to Jiraiya to finish it.

"There are about ten Akatsuki members, which mean there are five teams altogether."

"So, what do you propose?" Kakashi asked after listening to the facts.

"Naruto is the main concern of the council," The former Hokage stated, "Being the host of the nine-tails, they see Naruto as a powerful weapon that cannot be lost to Akatsuki or anyone for that matter."

Sarutobi released a puff of smoke from his pipe, a habit he did not stop even after he became a council member. The four others waited for the old Hokage to continue on. Jiraiya already had a plan to make sure Naruto was not captured but he wanted to listen to everything first before he suggested his plan. Sarutobi glared at Tsunade now, the current Hokage and his glare was for him to directly speak to her, although the others were also meant to listen.

"We need to protect Naruto from getting captured by Akatsuki, which is obvious. The thing that the council does not understand is that protecting Naruto from S-rank criminals is difficult, almost impossible for ninjas in our village. They are on a whole different level to our ninjas."

After Sarutobi had finished his explanation, he remained silent. Now that he made his point clear, he wanted to see if anyone had a plan to counter this problem. Tsunade turned to glare at her team mate, gesturing for him to explain his solution to this dilemma.

"I already proposed this some time ago, but I'm thinking of doing it by the end of this week. I take Naruto with me, travel across all the lands of the five countries while training him at the same time."

Sarutobi contemplated the suggestion for a moment, releasing another puff of smoke, "And how does that protect Naruto from Akatsuki?"

"The Akatsuki have to gather information on the hosts before they can act," Jiraiya explained to his old teacher, "But if I take Naruto with me, they can never know his exact location with us moving all the time. Even if they could get me, I can take them on by myself."

"But…" Sarutobi protested but Tsunade intervened, "Jiraiya's plan is the most logical choice, old man. It is one way to protect Naruto and also get him prepared in the next two and a half years when Akatsuki would target all the hosts."

Sarutobi sighed softly and thought about it. The others remained silent, watching him to come to come to a decision. Now that he was one of the councils, it was much easier to discuss anything with him representing the council since he understood the point of view of a ninja. Finally, Sarutobi nodded, agreeing to the plan.

"What about Sasuke? I doubt Orochimaru would give up on Sasuke as a new container. The council is extremely worried about Sasuke and is even willing to forbid Sasuke to leave the village on missions."

"Sasuke remains in Konoha," Tsunade answered almost immediately, "And will be trained personally by Kakashi for most of the time. Since Naruto will be trained by Jiraiya, Sasuke will be trained by Kakashi and Maki or any other elite Jounins that have the free time to train him. In the next two years, Naruto and Sasuke will develop and should be able to take care of themselves."

"And if they can't?" Sarutobi challenged.

"They will," Maki stated clearly, "I believe in them. I've seen them develop while they're under me and I know in two years if they're going to be trained vigorously every day, they will be able to stand on their own against their threats. They have the potential to become the best ninjas that Konoha will ever produce."

Sarutobi listened to Maki and he remembered how the young blonde was when he was still in the academy. How he was able to ignore the angry stares of the villagers. It was only through strong will and determination that Naruto passed through that challenge at his age. And his attitude had greatly influenced the Uchiha.

"Yes, somehow deep inside me, I know they're strong, and Naruto… I believe he can become like the fourth." Sarutobi spoke softly.

Tsunade also spoke of her interest in training Maki's niece in the path of becoming a medic-nin. The fact that Sakura already was a genjutsu specialist, Tsunade reasoned that Sakura would become the first ever medic-ninja and genjutsu specialist. A medical ninja that would be both a support to the team and an offensive genjutsu ninja to the team.

Everyone in the room nodded. It was thus decided that Jiraiya would leave the village in a week and take Naruto with him. The training would begin to prepare for the Akatsuki in the two years. Sasuke would be trained personally by Kakashi mostly, occasionally by Maki and if the two were busy, by other elite Jounins, especially by Maito Gai in the taijutsu field.

**End of flashback…**

"So, what's going on?" Sasuke asked once more, his eyes demanded an explanation.

Maki sighed softly and decided to tell his students today. He explained about the Akatsuki, their target of Naruto although he did not specify why they targeted him. He continued explaining that Jiraiya would leave with Naruto to both avoid Akatsuki and train him. He then explained that because Orochimaru would still be targeting Sasuke, the Uchiha heir would be trained vigorously to prepare him also. Maki kept to himself about Sakura's training under Tsunade though.

Naruto scratched his hair, taking everything what Maki said to his head, "So, I have to leave in a week…?"

His teacher nodded. Naruto slammed his fists together in excitement, "Alright, I'm gonna train hard under that perverted Sannin and become Hokage when I return!"

Sasuke scoffed loudly, "I doubt you will be Hokage material in two years time. You're an idiot, after all."

However, Naruto took the comment seriously this time and did not get into an argument, "Yeah, being Hokage is not going to be easy. Besides, we have to deal with the Akatsuki first before I can even think of being Hokage."

Sasuke listened and nodded. He knew when Naruto was being serious and what he said was true. His skills were low compared to the other ninjas and until they surpass their teacher, Hokage was impossible. Also, he would have to defeat Orochimaru first before he could concentrate on defeating his older brother.

Sasuke and Naruto conversed with one another, discussing about the current situation and throwing friendly insults at some points. Maki watched the two of them, and was happy that he still had his team together. He looked at the clock in the room and was surprised at the time.

"I got to go," Maki said, interrupting his students planning, "There's someone I have to meet."

Before Naruto or Sasuke could stop him, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Who do you think it is?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. He didn't tell me anything about meeting anybody."

"Training for the next two years, huh…?" Sasuke muttered after a couple of seconds.

Naruto remained silent. In two years, ninjas of Itachi's caliber would be after him and although his teacher had not said why, he had a feeling that they were after the monster within him. He looked at Sasuke and wondered what he and Sakura and his friends would think of him if they knew of the nine-tailed fox sealed inside of him.

**Konoha's main gate…**

The great gates of Konoha were almost fully repaired ever since the invasion three months prior. The right gate was replaced but the left side was only half way repaired. The giant snake summon had destroyed it completely and Konoha had to rebuilt it from scratch. A couple of villagers were busy carrying the wood needed for the repairs.

Nara Shikamaru, as the team leader of his previous mission had to see off Gaara and his team mates before they departed back to the Sand village. They had already delivered the message that the Sand council wanted to send to the leaf and now it was time they left their allied village.

Their wind element Jounin leader waited for her students close to the gates while Shikamaru conversed with them.

"Thanks for rescuing me and my friends." Shikamaru said.

Gaara was silent. Although he had changed in his morals, he still lacked the experience to be more talkative.

"It was part of the mission," Temari replied, "Although I must say, I find it surprising that you were in need of help. After all, you seem to have the brains to outwit almost anyone."

Shikamaru popped a vein at the small insult, "You little…"

"Calm down," Kankurou interjected, stepping in between Shikamaru and Temari, "She's just joking around. She likes to mess with you guys, you know?"

Shikamaru took a breath, regaining his composure, "Yeah, I guess I over-reacted. I'll take that as an advice to not be so careless in the future."

Temari gave a smirk, "You do that, Konoha Chuunin."

"Aren't you a Chuunin too?" Shikamaru asked with genuine interest.

"We all are," Temari answered proudly, "We were already Chuunins before the exams. We were in the rank of Gennin as part of the mission…"

Before the Nara or Temari could continue their conversation, Gaara already had enough and turned to leave. Kankurou followed his little brother and it took a while before Temari realized they had left. They ended their conversation quickly and Temari quickly caught up with her brothers and Shikamaru continued watching from the gates, seeing them off.

"Was she actually flirting with him?" Kankurou whispered to Gaara.

Gaara looked on ahead, "I don't really care. But if she was interested with him in that sort of way, I know he can take care of her. He defeated me once before after all."

Kankurou raised an eyebrow and continued walking. For Gaara to no longer have much killing intent was a big step but to talk to him about romantic interest was definitely still out of the question. But he had to admit that Shikamaru impressed him that he was able to defeat his little brother. Well, he sort of caught him in the shadow mimic before Gaara went crazy and almost transformed.

As the three Sand Chuunins were walking up the road, they realized that their teacher was not with them yet. They looked back and saw that she was chatting up with someone, a Konoha Jounin with long pink hair. They recognized him as the teacher of Naruto's team.

"It's good to see you again. It's been what, a month since you came to renew the alliance?" Maki said, more of a statement than a question.

Himura nodded, "And I have to leave now. Unlike Konoha, the Sand village is still quite depleted of our forces, especially with the loss of Kazekage-sama."

Maki understood completely, "Well, you keep in touch, alright?"

"And the same goes to you. Although with your reputation, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Himura stood on her toes and gave a light peck on the cheek of the replicator. With that, Himura turned around and walked towards her team. Maki watched from where he stood, feeling the spot where she kissed him. It was still warm and he smiled while watching the woman he loved leaving the village once more. The last time she left when he was merely a Chuunin, she left without a word to him or his older brother.

He watched her for some time until they finally disappeared from sight, hoping he would see her in the near future. He sighed at his unfortunate love life. Being a childhood friend of hers since the age of five, he thought she would love him too. He always thought that childhood friends would eventually grow to become lovers but instead, he remained as a friend and watched in his teens when she went into the arms of Kawada, the brilliant ninja of his year. Maki sometimes wondered if it was better he never knew her. It hurts to have known her from childhood and remaining as a friend.

"Maki-sensei," Shikamaru approached him, "You alright? You've been standing there for quite some time now."

Maki gave a sad smile at the Nara prodigy, "I'm okay."

Shikamaru nodded and then, with an awkward silence between them, he made his way back to his clan's home ground. He recognized that smile of the elite Jounin. It was the fake smile that Naruto used to give when he was hiding something.

**Konoha hospital, night time…**

Haruno Sakura continued reading with interest at the romance novel that her mother had brought for her to read. Although she had already finished the book before, it was much better than just laying in bed doing nothing. It was no fun to be hospitalized for ten days due to chakra exhaustion.

As she read the book, she recalled all the conversations she had with her mother earlier. Even though her mother was quite upset that she was hospitalized, at least she had finally accepted that her daughter was a ninja. Mother and daughter were gaining back the relationship that was damaged when she chose her path. Sakura smiled and flipped to the next page.

"Hei, Sakura-Chan…" Naruto whispered next to her.

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura hissed in surprise, "When did you get here? And what are you doing here?"

"I just got here," Naruto answered calmly, "And as to why I'm here, I missed you. I haven't seen you since retrieving Sasuke."

Sakura, after going through the initial shock finally smiled, "Yeah, I missed you too."

Naruto sat on the bed next to her, feeling her warmth, "I'm glad you're safe. I was worried when I left you with that two-headed freak."

"I had a number of bruises," Sakura confessed, holding Naruto's hand, "But…"

Before Sakura could even finish her sentence, Naruto closed the distance and kissed her lips. Sakura immediately responded and the two embraced one another. Although it was a ward and other patients were there, the closed curtains gave them some privacy. Some would say they're too young to be doing this, but it was common among ninjas to have gotten married in their teens since the lives of ninjas are short.

Naruto continued the kiss for a few seconds and then became more aggressive, snaking a tongue when Sakura's mouth parted open. Their tongues dueled with one another with none of them willing to give up. The two finally stopped to get some air and the two Gennins stared into the eyes of the other.

"I love you, Sakura-Chan…" Naruto spoke softly but his words were powerful.

"I love you too, Naruto-kun."

Unknown to them, outside the hospital by the windows, Haruno Maki witnessed everything, in a way. He couldn't see them directly, but he could see their shadows from the curtains and he heard what they said. He came to make sure his niece was alright but found this instead. He sighed and decided to head for home, knowing Sakura was safe with Naruto, his student. After all, he was sure they wanted the privacy. He was happy that as the uncle of Sakura, and the guardian that his brother entrusted for his daughter, that she found someone to love

He was also happy that Naruto and Sakura did not suffer the same fate as he. Childhood friends since the age of five but they had confessed their love for one another. Unlike him.


	55. Training for the future

**Hei guys, this is… a very long, long update. It has been more than a year and the reason for not updating… is because I was hooked up by the game, League of Legends. I was introduced by a friend and I just… well forgot… Not to mention University work, I simply forgot to continue the story.**

**Oh and I'm sure you'll notice a change in how I manage the dialogue. Keep note, due to some reasons, I had to write this way but I'll write normally for the dialogues like how I did in the previous chapters. Just this once, I had to write it in this manner.**

**Rest assured, I will continue this story regularly now but it will be some time.**

**Next chapter, "The truth revealed"**

**CHAPTER 55: TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE**

A week had passed since the recovery mission of Uchiha Sasuke and Naruto was busy packing whatever he might need during his training with the toad Sannin. Although Jiraiya had said they would be leaving some time soon, due to recent events, Jiraiya had moved it earlier and hence, today was that day.

Naruto packed the last item into his backpack and zipped it up. After that, he checked his apartment thoroughly to make he had not forgotten anything he might later need in his journey. Satisfied, he walked out of his apartment, locked the door and left the apartment building.

Outside, Jiraiya was already waiting for him.

Jiraiya: You all packed yet, brat? *Ruffles Naruto hair*

Naruto: Stop doing that! *Pushes Jiraiya's hand away* And yeah, I'm done. When do we leave?

Jiraiya: Soon… But first, I need to speak with the Hokage first. You should go ahead and say your goodbyes to your friends before you leave. You won't be seeing them for more than two years."

With that, Jiraiya jumped off to a rooftop and headed for the Hokage monument. Naruto watched the old man sprinting away for a moment and then walked off. Naruto was supposed to leave in two weeks' time and the sudden change in plans of their departure was too close. He decided to head towards Konoha hospital, where Sakura and Ino would be.

His girlfriend, Haruno Sakura was chosen by the current Hokage to actually be her apprentice to become a medic-nin. It was obviously a huge honor and Sakura immediately accepted the Hokage to be her master.

As the blonde made his way towards the hospital, he ran through his head on how in two years' time, he would have to battle ninjas that were going to be around the level of his pink haired teacher or maybe even far stronger than him. He saw Maki as someone that would be difficult to defeat due to his shadow clones but it seems that this 'Akatsuki' would have no problem taking on his teacher. That was why he had to surpass his teacher in his training for the next two years.

Naruto entered Konoha hospital and made his way to hospital archive, deciding on giving his goodbyes to Ino first. He knew she spent most of her time there now, researching on the large number of herbs found by Konoha that could help in creating medicine and others.

It took him a minute when he found the archive and entered it. It was quiet and Naruto easily found his former team seven team mate on a table, reading a thick book with three other books by the side. Naruto gulped, never liking to read words.

Naruto: Hei, Ino! *Approaches her*

Ino: Naruto! *Turns to face him, startled* you scared me there. What brings you here? You aren't the kind of guy to actually come into these sorts of places.

Naruto: *Laughs* well… I'm leaving Konoha today…

Ino: Oh? For how long?

Naruto: Two years… *Sighs* I'm leaving on a special training mission with the perverted Sannin…

Ino: You… mean Jiraiya-sama? Naruto! That is such a huge honor! But wow… *shakes head* two years huh…? I'm going to miss you, Naruto.

Naruto: Heh… Me too…

The two chatted with one another for at least another minute before they gave their farewells, Ino telling Naruto to work hard and also be careful. Naruto left the archive and then made his way to the wards. The fact that Sakura was already learning with Tsunade and already had some basic healing techniques, he heard that she would be here tending to the patients as part of her training. He finally found her in one of the wards.

Naruto: Sakura-chan!

Sakura: Naruto? *Smiles* Wha-what are you doing here?

Naruto: *Gives a light peck on Sakura's cheek, causing her to blush* I wanted to see you… before I leave…

Sakura: Leave? Aren't you supposed to leave in two weeks or so…?

Naruto: *Shakes head* Change of plans. We need to leave sooner than expected since perverted sannin feels we shouldn't waste any more time than necessary.

Sakura: I see… And you won't be able to stop by for a visit in the two years?

Naruto: I don't think so.

Sakura: Well… It's for the best. I'm going to miss you, Naruto. *Sad smile*

Naruto returned the smile and then the two shared one last kiss before they would have to depart. Sakura would have loved to say goodbye to her boyfriend at the gates but she had to finish this part of her training. After all, she was training to become stronger for Naruto's sake also.

Naruto left the hospital after giving his goodbyes to Sakura and proceeded to find his rival and best friend, Sasuke. He knew he was probably somewhere in the training grounds being trained personally by Jounins as per the instructions of the Hokage. After all, he was still wanted by Orochimaru and so, Konoha will have to increase his skills in case they would try to take him again like the Sound Four had.

It took Naruto another ten minutes before he arrived at the training grounds and he headed for training ground seven. Even before he arrived, he could hear a battle going on and he had no doubt it was Sasuke. Naruto leaped to the nearest tree and spied on Sasuke.

From what he could see, the Taijutsu specialist, Maito Gai was present and he was spectating the fight between Sasuke and two other sparring opponents, Shikamaru and Lee. Naruto was surprised that Shikamaru was actually here since he thought the Nara genius would be cloud watching.

Sasuke: Not that damned shadow again! *Sees Shikamaru's shadow coming at him*

Sasuke hopped back to avoid the shadow but it was all a diversion as Lee appeared from above, landing a spinning kick right on Sasuke's face. Sasuke was thrown into the air like a rag doll before he crashed hard on the ground, a small line of blood crawling by the corner of his mouth.

Gai: Be more aware to your surroundings! You must always think ahead. Do not think of simply avoiding one attack. You need to think at least three or even five steps ahead!

Sasuke nodded from where he laid, slowly getting up and thankful for the advice. The young Uchiha activated his Sharingan once more, watching his two opponents. When Lee disappeared due to his speed, Sasuke charged for Shikamaru.

The Nara genius immediately sent forth his Shadow Bind technique but Sasuke retaliated by releasing a wave of shurikens towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru cursed and rolled to his right, cancelling his technique. In an instant, Sasuke was before him and just as he was about to attack, Lee appeared, throwing a thrust at Sasuke.

Sasuke evaded the thrust and counter-attacked, going for Lee's open stomach with his kunai. Lee backed away at the right moment and with such a close range, Shikamaru immediately used his Shadow Bind technique. Sasuke leaped back before the shadows could connect and quickly formed seals.

Sasuke: Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!

Sasuke released a large fireball aimed at Shikamaru. Shikamaru jumped away from the fireball and threw a kunai tied to a smoke bomb. Sasuke could see that Lee was coming at him for him. If he evaded the kunai to not activate the smoke bomb, he would be open for Lee's attack but he knew Shikamaru wanted him to deflect the kunai and open the smoke bomb. Sasuke decided to go with the latter.

Sasuke drew out a kunai and parried the kunai, the smoke bomb immediately exploding and covering the area with smoke, blinding both Sasuke and Lee. Shikamaru took this opportunity to use the Shadow Bind technique, planning on capturing Sasuke and Lee at the same time. Once the smoke cleared, he would then release the bind on Lee although he was sure Gai would call the fight off since Sasuke was defeated.

After a moment, Shikamaru caught two figures and smiled to himself, certain it was victory. When the smoke cleared, he was shocked to find that he had caught Lee and a log.

Shikamaru: What…? Replacement technique?

Sasuke: I got you this time…

Sasuke had appeared from Shikamaru's behind with a kunai placed close to his throat. Shikamaru shut his eyes and chuckled, feeling outplayed. Shikamaru released the technique and Lee immediately gave a thumbs up.

Lee: YOSH! That was a good fight, Sasuke-kun! I could feel the spring time of youth flowing throughout the fight… Oohh, what a truly great battle it was! *Continues rambling*

Gai: That was a good fight, Sasuke! *Thumbs up with a smile, his teeth flashing*

Sasuke and Shikamaru simply sweatdropped at the two Taijutsu users, shaking their heads. It was at this moment that Naruto made his appearance, jumping off the tree branch he was on and approaching his friends.

Shikamaru: Oh, Naruto? What are you doing here?

Sasuke: *Smirks* what brings you here dobe?

Naruto: Heh, thought I'd say goodbye to some of you before I leave. *Reaches Shikamaru and Sasuke*

Sasuke: *Confused* I thought you were leaving in two weeks' time?

Naruto: *Shrugs* There's a change of plans. That's why I'm here, got to say goodbye to my rival before I leave. *smirks*

Sasuke: *Laughs* well, by the time you return, I'll be kicking your ass.

Naruto: We'll see who will be the one that's going to be doing the kicking.

Sasuke and Naruto laughed. Before they could continue conversing, Gai informed Sasuke that his training with him was over for the day and excused himself along with Lee. Shikamaru also followed suite as he wanted to continue his hobby. That left the two male Gennins at the training grounds.

Sasuke: For two years huh?

Naruto: *Nods head* yeah, I'll be training with the perverted Sannin while travelling around to avoid the Akatsuki.

Sasuke: I understand why Orochimaru is after me… But what about you? What is it that this Akatsuki… One where my brother is in… wants from you?

Naruto remained silent and Sasuke concluded that the blonde ninja did not wish to reveal to him. Despite being rivals, they were also close friends and Sasuke knew that whatever it was, it must be something he would tell when the time was right.

The two chatted for another couple of minutes before Naruto decided he had to go. Jiraiya would be waiting at the gates for him and he shouldn't waste time.

Sasuke: Alright, just make sure you come back stronger in two years. I'll be waiting to fight you to show you that I'm the better one in team seven. *smirks*

Naruto: *Chukles* right, I'll keep that in mind. You take care of yourself now.

Sasuke nodded and proceed to resume his training. Naruto stood there for a moment before he leapt on a tree and began his journey to the main gates of Konoha.

When Naruto arrived at the gates, he could see Jiraiya, the Hokage and his pink haired teacher already there. Jiraiya and Tsunade were conversing with one another but Maki was waiting for Naruto to arrive. When Maki spotted him, his teacher smiled.

Maki: You packed everything you need?

Naruto: *Nod* yup, everything I'll need.

Maki: That's good. You better not slack in your training, alright? I'll see you in two years.

Naruto: Heh, I'll be training so hard that by the time I return, I'll be ready to take the Hokage's seat!

Maki: *Laugh* well, I hope so. We're going to need you to be that strong when the Akatsuki makes their move.

Naruto: *serious* yeah, I know…

It was at this time that Jiraiya finished their discussion and prepared to move. As Naruto headed out of Konoha, Jiraiya called Maki and the elite Jounin obeyed, approaching the Toad Sannin.

Jiraiya: I hope you remember not to slack off. We're going to need you and Kakashi to be stronger in two years. Especially since Akatsuki are comprised of S-rank ninjas.

Maki: I will, Jiraiya-sama. For Naruto's sake.

Jiraiya nodded and headed off to join Naruto. Tsunade and Maki stood at the gates as they watched the departing nine-tailed fox container with the Toad Sannin. Maki knew that his student was in safe hands but he was still worried. Then again, if there was anything, Jiraiya would send a messenger toad to Maki. That was what they had agreed upon.

When Naruto and Jiraiya had disappeared from their line of sight, Tsunade headed back to the Hokage tower and Maki also left for the training grounds, not wanting to waste any time he could use in improving his skills. In two years time, the Akatsuki will be on the move.


	56. The Truth Revealed

**Hei guys, here is the new chapter. Hope you all enjoy this chapter :D**

**Next chapter, "Elite Jounin battle"**

**CHAPTER 55: THE TRUTH REVEALED**

Three months had passed by since Naruto had left with Jiraiya for his two year training. While most of the Konoha 9 were also improving when they could, they still had to go on missions whenever they were assigned to.

Haruno Sakura's training was going well with the legendary medic, Tsunade. Although her training was mostly in Konoha's hospital, her training had been moved to the Hokage tower after Tsunade realized she needed to supervise Sakura's training more after realizing her potential.

It was another typical morning as Maki prepared himself for the day. It was a struggle for the Jounin to even get up from bed. When he finally managed to do so, he took a quick hot shower and then brushed his teeth quickly. Once he was done, he headed back to his room, removing his clothing and putting on his Jounin outfit.

Once he was done equipping with five of his custom kunai in his pouch. Once he was done, he headed downstairs for his breakfast. Suyuki was already busy with cleaning the house as Maki ate his breakfast quickly.

"Where's Sakura?" Maki asked as he washed his plate.

"She headed out early for the Hokage tower." Suyuki answered, "Honestly, that girl. The least she could do is to have a proper breakfast. It's not good for the body for a growing girl."

Maki laughed and Suyuki sent him a death glare, immediately stopping the Jounin. Maki lazed around the house for another ten minutes before he headed out of the house as he had to report to the Hokage for a patrol mission. He had no missions to take today and decided the extra income he would receive from patrolling would be nice.

Since the six months had passed, Maki was extremely busy with either missions or when he had the time, train on his own. Kakashi was also busy not just with missions, but he had the responsibility to also train Sasuke. As a matter of fact, Kakashi was becoming more of Sasuke's personal teacher as Kakashi helped improve Sasuke's usage of the Sharingan. The only time Maki was called to help train Sasuke was to improve Sasuke's fire abilities.

Sasuke basically had three teachers training him. Kakashi; who mainly trained Sasuke in the Sharingan, Maki; who trained Sasuke in improving his fire affinity and finally Gai; who trained Sasuke in the Taijutsu field. The pink haired Jounin could see that Sasuke was quickly getting stronger, probably around the skills of a trained Chuunin and he had no doubt in one year, Sasuke could easily be considered a Jounin.

About ten minutes later, Maki entered the Hokage's office to find the 5th Hokage busy with paperwork. Even from where he stood, he could clearly tell that Tsunade was extremely frustrated with the load of work. Shizune noticed Maki and gestured for him to approach, although Maki wondered if this was the best of times.

"Hokage-sama?" Maki began.

"Eh?" Tsunade looked up from her work and immediately smiled, "Oh Maki! What do you want?"

"I'm here for my patrol assignment."

"Ah right," Tsunade stretched while she looked for the assignment. She just wanted to burn some time after the huge paperwork. She finally retrieved a piece of paper and looked through it, "Right… Maki… Maki… There, you're assigned to patrol to the west of Konoha."

Maki nodded and gave his bow of respect and proceeded to leave the office when Tsunade stopped him.

"Maki, is there anything you've heard from Jiraiya?"

Maki gave a confused look, "No, not yet. Is there something wrong?"

Tsunade shook her head, "No, I just wanted to know if there was anything. After all, you're the only one that has the means to communicate with that perverted idiot. Just let me know if he does contact you."

Maki bowed once more in acknowledgement and left the office to begin his patrol duty. While walking in the hallways, to his surprise, he spotted his niece coming to him in his direction while carrying a stack of documents. He wondered what she was doing carrying documents when she should be training.

"Sakura?" Maki called out, surprising Sakura.

"Uncle Maki? What are you doing here?"

"I've got patrol duty, just had to collect my assignment from the Hokage." Maki eyed the documents then turned to Sakura, "Why are you carrying these documents?"

"Tsunade basically made me one of her new assistants," Sakura explained, sighing at the same time, "Just like Shizune."

"So you have to carry documents for her now…?"

Sakura nodded, "It's just one of the many tasks I have to do now. Only then will she supervise my training."

Maki sweat dropped, "I see… Well, good luck then!"

Sakura groaned once more and made her way to the Hokage's office while Maki went ahead for his patrol duty. Maki walked on the streets and kept an eye for anything that could go wrong. Normally, he'd just create clones for patrol while he sat somewhere and relaxed but he felt productive today.

Ten minutes later, Maki was found sitting in the nearby park relaxing while three of his clones patrolled his area. Some of the ANBU's that were assigned to his area sighed at the lazy Jounin, wishing they had his large chakra supply to use clones while still being efficient. It was almost unbelievable that Maki had trained since he was young to increase his chakra capacity to the point that he had a supply like that of a Jinchuuriki, an extremely rare occurrence.

***Training Grounds***

At training ground number eight, Uchiha Sasuke thrust his Chidori towards Kakashi but Kakashi easily intercepted the attack, grabbing Sasuke by the wrist and stopping the attack. Sasuke then stared at Kakashi in the eye to deliver a Genjutsu but Kakashi's one was superior, placing a counter Genjutsu.

A few seconds later, Sasuke was released from the Genjutsu world and sat down, panting heavily as sweat poured down his back. Kakashi grinned beneath his mask, knowing that Sasuke was frustrated that he could still not defeat Kakashi. It was impossible in his current state as Kakashi had more battle experience and their skills were still too far apart. But he could in two years time, Sasuke would be a challenge and could even beat him then.

"What's next in my schedule?" Sasuke questioned, still panting.

"You should relax a little," Kakashi advised, "It is not wise to tire your body out."

"No, I can still keep going!" Right on que, Sasuke felt a little dizzy and Kakashi simply laughed.

"Like I said," Kakashi said, "Relax. Your body needs time to recover even if your heart wishes to go further."

Sasuke was not happy to stop their little spar but Kakashi knew what was best for the Uchiha and he obeyed. Sasuke lay down on the grass and looked at the sky, staring at the clouds and the birds that above him. Kakashi gave Sasuke a chakra pill and the boy gratefully swallowed the pill. Sasuke's training would normally require him to train from dawn until dusk with ten to twenty minutes break in between. It was the only way for Sasuke to improve as quickly as he can before Orochimaru might strike again.

As Sasuke slowly regained his strength, Kakashi read his favorite perverted book. With missions, training Sasuke and training on his own, it was taking up most of his time and his time on reading his book was greatly reduced. This was one of the few times he could enjoy his book.

"Ne, Kakashi…" Sasuke suddenly said, sitting up, "why is my brother… after Naruto?"

Kakashi sighed, "I'm actually not supposed to tell you… But seeing as you're his team mate, you should at least know what group your brother is in…"Kakashi paused for a moment before he continued, "Your brother is currently in an organization called Akatsuki. All you need to know is that the group is comprised of S-rank missing nins and… as to why they're after Naruto…"

"It's okay if you can't tell me Kakashi," Sasuke said after noticing Kakashi hesitated, which the Jounin rarely did, "Even the dobe wouldn't tell me."

Kakashi nodded, "Let's just keep it that way then. We do know that they will be after him in two years, which is why we're training you, Sakura and Naruto to be strong. You and Naruto especially need to be stronger."

"Don't worry about me," Sasuke said with his confidence tone, "By the time I'm done, I'll be the one teaching you a thing or two."

Kakashi chuckled as the both of them got up. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and Kakashi revealed his as the two now began concentrating chakra to their eyes. Kakashi had read some interesting information in one of the archives regarding the Sharingan and wanted to try it out. Sasuke decided to tag along in this part of the training, interested in the theory.

***Evening time, Western Konoha***

After dispelling his clones, Maki had to rest on the nearest bench as all the information his three clones gathered rushed into his head. After ten seconds, he was fine. Although most would need at least two minutes to recover, Maki's excessive use of the Shadow clones had allowed him to recover faster.

Nothing of importance had occurred from what the clones had experienced. The only reason why he took up patrol missions was the extra income he would receive. Most elite Jounins rarely take up patrol missions since it was the ANBU's main duty.

As Maki made his way towards the Hokage tower, a group of ninjas were sprinting past him and he could see they were carrying an injured ninja, a Chuunin from the vest he wore. Maki immediately asked one of the ninjas that were close by.

"What happened?"

"I'm not too sure," The ninja replied, looking at where the group of ninjas was going, "But I heard that a group of Chuunins were ambushed by 'The Reapers.' Well, at least that's what I heard anyway."

Maki's immediately felt a shiver run down his spine, "The Reapers? If that was true… how did he survive the encounter?"

The ninja shook his head, "He was a lucky one. He lost two of his team mates as they made their escape. I heard they were coming back from a mission when they were ambushed… Very unlucky of them to meet those bastards."

Maki nodded and slowly started walking again towards the tower. The Reapers; the group of ninjas that were comprised of former Leaf and Rock ninjas that abandoned their village after the war. Ever since then, they had been attacking Rock, Leaf and any ninjas from a village. The only reason why the Reapers still existed was because none of the Five Powers could locate the base of the Reapers. Even the Inuzuka Clan could not detect their scent, which was somewhat troubling for them.

Maki stood there for a minute contemplating the issue before he continued on his path to the Hokage tower. There was nothing he could do regarding the Reapers. At least not until Konoha or any of the five villages finally decide to do something about the Reapers. Although they have caused problems, it would require a large amount of time and resource to fully deal with them.

Maki entered the mission hall and gave his report to the administration staff there. He received his pay and was about to return home when he spotted Sasuke in a distance and Sakura was speaking with him. From his niece's expression, it seemed to be something urgent.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Maki asked as he approached his two students.

Sakura had a troubled look on her face and took a few moments before she said, "Uncle Maki… We need to talk to you… Alone."

"You can just tell me right…"

"Alone!" Sakura spoke firmly and Maki kept his mouth shut, "We'll be in the archives. We'll meet you there, uncle Maki…"

Maki simply nodded in understanding and his two students left. For the life of him, he wondered what it could be that was so important that they had to speak to him without anyone listening in. What was even more troubling for Maki was that Sasuke also had a troubled look in his face and that rarely occurred with the last Uchiha of Konoha.

The pink haired Jounin allowed five minutes to pass before he made his way towards the Konoha archive. The archive was located on the second floor of the Hokage's tower and it housed all the important information Konoha had. From it's history down to every known technique that Konoha knew. The archives were sacred and only a small number were allowed in such as the council, the Hokage and a few select ninjas. Luckily for Maki, he and six other elite Jounins were among them. Maki wondered how Sakura was able to gain access to the archives but then remembered that she was now an assistant to the Hokage.

Two ANBU guards stood watch at the entrance and when they spotted Maki, they allowed him through. When Maki entered the archives, he was not surprised that the place was empty. He browsed through the massive room, looking through the old dusty shelves when he finally encountered Sakura and Sasuke. The two were sitting behind a table and in front them were a number of printed documents and books.

"Hei…" Maki began but his two students had a stern look on their face. As Maki took a seat, he inspected one of the documents and the title was about the Kyuubi. Maki read the other documents and they were details of the Kyuubi attack and also, the law that the third passed regarding the sealing of the Kyuubi.

"Uncle Maki…" Sakura finally said, "Is this true…? What these documents say… Are they true…?"

Maki was silent as Sakura's eyes demanded an answer. He browsed through the documents that were laid on the table. Indeed, each of them foretold the accounts of the attack or days before the attack had occurred. Another document was about the law that the third passed regarding the secrecy of the container and clearly naming Uzumaki Naruto as the nine-tailed container.

"How… When did you find out…?" Maki asked but it was Sasuke who answered.

"She was asked by Tsunade to grab some files after her training," Sasuke explained, "It seems while she was looking for the file, she stumbled upon these… She reported back to the Hokage with the files and she was dismissed. She immediately came here and read them. I was on my way to meet with Tsunade when Sakura bumped into me. She told me everything and I didn't really believe her until she brought me here."

Maki was not surprised that the ANBU's had not stopped Sasuke from entering the archives. As the sole remaining Uchiha, he was basically the head of the clan and had clear access to the archives. Not to mention that Kakashi was personally tutoring him now, there was no reason for the ANBU to prevent him from entering.

He realised that lying to them would do no good. It would be utter bullshit. The law clearly stated that the young generation should not know of the truth but now that two of them had found out, he had to reveal the truth. Then again, Maki felt that the two were Naruto's team mates, they would have found out eventually since the Akatsuki would come for him in two years' time.

"Yes, it is true…" Maki finally said, "Exactly twelve years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. You were all told that the 4th Hokage died protecting the village and the Kyuubi was killed. But that was obviously not true. The Kyuubi was a monster with a vast amount of chakra, it was impossible to kill and nearly impossible to seal it. So… The 4th had to seal it in a newborn baby… And that baby was Naruto…"

Maki decided to not give the detail that the 4th was also Naruto's father but he doubted that secret could last. But until the three Gennins were strong enough, he could not risk letting them know about Naruto's heritage or assassination attempts would occur from the village of Rock.

"Why…?" Sakura asked, her voice clearly in anger, "Why did the 3rd pass this law?" Sakura nearly shouted, shoving the document regarding the law to her uncle, "Why was it kept a secret? We deserve to know… We're his team mates…"

Maki sighed, reading the old document and smiled as he explained to his niece and student, "Can you imagine…? We lost many lives in the attack and many of them were husbands… fathers… wives… brother, sisters… Do you understand the pain of loss…? The people of Konoha lost many loved ones all because of the Kyuubi and now that it is sealed in Naruto… They threw their anger at him…"

"It was because of this that the 3rd had to pass the law forbidding anyone to speak to Naruto about the truth." Maki paused for a moment, "With that, the adults could not speak the truth of why they hated Naruto and that protected him from the hate of the young generation."

"But that didn't stop from some of the other kids hating him." Sasuke countered.

"True," Maki admitted, "But they were only following in their parents footsteps. They knew they hated Naruto, but they had no idea why. With that, Naruto was still able to make friends with some of you who chose to ignore the hate threw on Naruto…"

Sakura and Sasuke were silent, knowing that Maki had meant the friends of Naruto. Maki stared at the two, waiting for any more questions or bombards he would receive. Finally, Sakura spoke.

"Fine, I understand why we weren't told the truth about Naruto," Sakura started, "But how could the villagers hate Naruto…? Can't they see that he was a hero? He still is! He's holding the nine-tailed fox from causing another rampage!"

Maki nodded in understanding, "Yes, that's true but the loss of loved ones blind people to what they should appreciate. Like your mother, she lost her husband and she still can't forgive Naruto for that."

"And what about you, sensei?" Sasuke questioned, his eyes glaring at Maki.

"I never hated Naruto…" Maki answered confidently, "It's true he killed my brother… But it's because of Naruto that Konoha still stands today. My brother loved Konoha and Naruto is the container that is holding onto the demon that could have ended Konoha's existence."

"So this is all true…" Sakura concluded softly, "Naruto… holds the nine-tailed fox within him…"

"Yes…" Maki confirmed, "But I hope that the truth remains between you two. The young generation might find out later, but hopefully they'll be matured enough by then. For now, none of this reaches to others, understood…?"

Sakura and Sasuke nodded, but Sakura was obviously still shaken by the truth. As they cleared the documents, Sakura was the first to leave, stating that she wanted to go home and rest. Once she had disappeared from sight, Sasuke spoke up.

"Is that what Akatsuki is after…?" Sasuke spoke, "The Kyuubi? They want the nine-tailed fox within Naruto?"

It was now Maki's turn who was shocked, "Who told you of this…?"

"Kakashi, I asked him about it and he told me about the Akatsuki… But he didn't tell me about why they're after Naruto. I guess I know now…"

Maki sighed, "Yeah, they'll be coming for the Kyuubi in two years time. For now, Jiraiya-sama is gathering more information on what them but that's all we know regarding their aims."

"I see…" Sasuke smirked, "Guess I'll have to get stronger to protect that idiot!"

Maki chuckled, "I see…"

The two packed everything and left the archives. By the time they left the Hokage tower, darkness had already enveloped the sky. They had spent a long time in the archives and Sasuke parted ways from his teacher to head back to the Uchiha compound.

Ever since the incident of Sasuke's kidnapping, the ANBU were heavy in the Uchiha compound. The council did not wish to risk him being abducted again so Sasuke was safe. But Maki doubted that if Orochimaru truly desired it, he could easily obtain him. Maki guessed that Orochimaru wanted Sasuke to develop his Sharingan more before he attempted another strike to obtain the Sharingan.

When Maki finally arrived home, he could smell dinner was already prepared. He found Suyuki preparing the table but Sakura was nowhere to be found. Normally she would be helping her mother lay out the table so this was something Maki had not expected.

"Isn't Sakura back…?" Maki asked.

"She's up in her room," Suyuki answered, "She must be real tired from her training with Hokage-sama. Normally she'd help me with this but well…"

Maki nodded and immediately went for his niece's room. He opened the door slowly and found his niece on her bed looking out the window. Maki approached her slowly until he was actually by her side but he said nothing. Sakura and Maki were silent for a moment but Maki felt as if an hour had passed by.

"Do you hate Naruto…?" Maki finally said.

Sakura shook her head, "No, of course not… It's just that… To find out everything so suddenly… I hadn't expected that at all."

Maki sat down on the bed and placed his hand on her shoulder, "You have to understand, Naruto couldn't tell you even if he wanted to. We all forbade him and it was for his own good at the time. But now…"

"I know…" Sakura replied, "It's okay uncle Maki. I don't hate Naruto, I could never hate him. But I'll need to get used to the fact that he actually contains something within him."

Maki smiled and Sakura returned the smile. Suyuki called for them for dinner and the two headed downstairs for their dinner. As they ate silently, Sakura's resolve grew stronger to improve herself with the remaining time she had before Naruto returned.

'I'll get stronger,' Sakura thought, 'So that I can protect Naruto… Just you wait!'

**I apologise if the ending was a little rushed. I felt that I needed to explain how Sasuke and Sakura found out about the Kyuubi and decided to do it here in this 'filler.' So I hope you enjoyed it and please REVIEW :3**


	57. Elite Jounin Battle

**Alright, another update for the new chapter :D I hope you will all enjoy this chapter.**

**Next chapter, "Return of Uzumaki Naruto"**

**CHAPTER 55: ELITE JOUNIN BATTLE**

A year had gone by since Sakura and Sasuke had discovered the truth regarding their team mates. Although Sakura took some time to acknowledge the fact, Sasuke used that knowledge as a motivation to become stronger. Fortunately for him, there had been no attempts by the Snake Sannin in trying to obtain the Uchiha.

Since the one year, Sasuke had advanced quickly and had obtained the rank of a Jounin. As a matter of fact, he was just appointed the rank of Jounin three weeks ago. Although he was given the Jounin vest, Sasuke refused to wear it. Instead, he now wore a black shirt with the Uchiha emblem on the back and pants similar like Kakashi with a weapon pouch strapped to the back.

Of course Sasuke was not the only ninja among their group to have been promoted. Shikamaru was the first to have been a Jounin and was officially seen as an elite Jounin among many. All of Gai's students were Jounin with Neji and Lee being an elite Jounin whereas the rest of the Konoha Gennin, including Sakura were Chuunin now.

Yamanaka Ino had been promoted in her field of Herb specialist quickly, gaining a position as a head of research in Konoha hospital, a position that was normally reserved to a person with twenty years of expertise. It just showed how much knowledge Ino had with herbs and the number of new cures she had discovered and created.

Haruno Sakura herself was on her way to meet with her master, the 5th Hokage at training ground number 7. In the one year, Sakura was growing to be a beautiful ninja and many of the male population were infatuated with her. She still kept her long hair and red top but she now also wore black gloves, black boots and black shorts with a short pink apron skirt over the shorts.

Sakura had to admit that she found the gazes by some of the men uncomfortable, especially the elderly. Although her chest was not as developed compared to some of the women, what the male population found attractive about her were her curves and her behind. Although, when her uncle was present, none dared to even gaze at her. Honestly, it was good to have a protective uncle at times.

As Sakura arrived at the training ground, she headed straight for training ground 7. She had no idea why Tsunade would call her all the way to the training grounds but she was going to find out soon enough. When she finally arrived a few minutes later, she realized Tsunade was not the only one present.

On the field, she could Shizune next to the Hokage and Sasuke was also present. Sasuke was standing by a tree, watching the two figures in front of him. Kakashi was on the left and Maki on the right. From the looks of it, it looked like they were preparing for a spar.

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura greeted, "Why'd you call me here?"

Tsunade gestured at the two Jounin's in front of her, "To witness the fight."

"Huh?"

"Let me explain…" Shizune stated.

***Twenty minutes ago***

Uchiha Sasuke was busy with his training as he thrust his chidori at Kakashi. The copy ninja evaded the thrust and returned the attack, swinging a kunai at Sasuke. The young Uchiha ducked from the kunai and tried to sweep Kakashi's feet but Kakashi had avoided it by jumping to a nearby tree branch.

Just as he landed on the tree branch, a large fireball was thrown at him. Kakashi smirked beneath his mask from the fact that Kakashi now had to reveal his Sharingan just to keep up with Sasuke. As a Jounin, Sasuke was truly a young ninja on the rise.

Kakashi created a set of seals and created a barrier of water, neutralizing the fireball. Due to the steam created from the two techniques, it blurred Kakashi's vision and Sasuke immediately leaped forward, swinging his kunai but Kakashi blocked the attack, the two of them staring eye to eye. The two backed off and landed on the ground.

"Alright, that's it for today's spar." Kakashi said, swinging his kunai before placing it back into his weapon's pouch.

Sasuke nodded in understanding, "Alright. It's time for my break anyway."

Sasuke proceeded to sit under a tree while he recovered back his energy. In the one year, Sasuke had been more obedient to Kakashi's orders, rarely questioning them now. Up to this day in their spar, Sasuke had never scored a victory but that was to be expected. Although Sasuke had improved tremendously, Kakashi was still superior and had much more experience compared to Sasuke.

Before Kakashi could even open his favorite perverted book, he sensed him before he even arrived.

"Maki, eager for your turn is it?" Kakashi stated, referring to the fact that it was Maki's turn to train Sasuke now.

"Nah," Maki replied as he approached Kakashi, "I was just watching the spar and I have to say that soon, Sasuke's going to beat you one day."

Kakashi laughed, "Maybe. He's improving very quickly but he still leaves him open to counter-attacks. But you've done a good job in training his Fire affinity. His Fire techniques are almost around the level of an experienced Jounin."

"How come you aren't training his Lightning affinity?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I feel his Lightning abilities are devastating enough as it is. Although it is his 2nd elemental, it is already stronger than his affinity to Fire already." Kakashi paused for a moment and looked behind Maki, "Hm?"

Maki turned around to find Tsunade and Shizune present. For the Hokage to be here was unheard of. After all, the only time Tsunade would be available outside of the Hokage tower was in the evening. She would be too busy with her paperwork.

"Hokage-sama?" Both Kakashi and Maki enquired, wondering what she was doing here. Even Sasuke had noticed the Hokage but he gave no greeting. He simply stared at the Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune said in a worried tone, "We really should head back. The council won't like it that you're not in the office…"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Shizune, even I need a break. Besides, I wanted to speak with Kakashi."

Tsunade approached Kakashi, "I thought I should warn you but the bounty on your head in the bingo book had risen by another million. Honestly Kakashi, you need to keep a low profile." Tsunade joked.

"I'd love to, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied, "But with most of my missions A-rank and above, it's not easy to stay low."

Tsunade grinned and revealed the bingo book from a pocket of her green robe. She flipped through the pages and when she found it, showed it to Kakashi. It was true, Kakashi's bounty had increased from two million to three million. By this time, Sasuke was interested and walked towards them. He read the information and saw the bounty on his price.

Once Tsunade had shown it to Kakashi, she placed it back inside her robe. Kakashi sighed heavily after reading the update. After all, with a huge bounty on his head, the next time he was on a mission, the risk of hunter nin's searching for him were higher.

"How come Maki doesn't have a bounty?" Sasuke questioned.

"The bingo book only puts a bounty on missing ninjas and ninjas during the war," Tsunade explained, "Since Kakashi had participated in the Last Great War, he's obviously still wanted in the world. Of course, the bounty only applies to hunter nins and not like being hunted by one of the major villages. That is why Maki isn't a bounty since he was never in the war."

"But he's still highly respected like Kakashi-san though." Shizune added.

Tsunade agreed, "Indeed. Of course every village has their own powerful shinobi that are candidates to be Hokage, Kakashi and Maki are much more widely known. Not to mention their famous 'Twin kages' title."

Sasuke removed himself from the conversation as the Jounins continued conversing with the Hokage and her assistant. Sasuke sat under a tree and grabbed a leaf that was on the ground. He placed it into the palm of his hand and began channeling chakra into it. He did this training whenever he could to enhance his Fire affinity.

Soon enough, the leaf burst into flames and Sasuke opened his palm. In the past, it took him nearly an hour or even more just to even create a spark but now all it took was just a minute or so before he set a leaf ablaze. Of course, he knew he still needed to improve. As he thought about the bingo book, he suddenly had a question.

"So," Sasuke said suddenly, stopping the conversation between the Jounins and Tsunade, "So who's better? Kakashi or Maki?"

Both Jounins immediately turned towards Sasuke and then glanced at each other. Tsunade herself was amused at the question and watched the Jounins expressions. Maki and Kakashi continued to glare at one another when Maki was the first to laugh.

"We're both equal in strength," Maki finally said towards Sasuke.

"Indeed," Kakashi agreed, "Although if we indeed had a fight, I'd be the winner."

Maki turned towards Kakashi, "That's impossible… With your low chakra reserves, I don't see how you can come out on top."

"I've got much more experience on the battlefield Maki," Kakashi replied coolly, "And a vast array of Ninjutsu. So…"

Maki popped a vein by now, "Alright then, why don't we find out who's the better one then?"

Although the two had a smile on their face, a spark was created between the two. Tsunade grinned watching the rivalry grow whereas Shizune wondered what was going to happen. Sasuke himself was now interested. He had always wondered who the better one was between the two.

"Alright then," Tsunade said suddenly, "Why don't the two of you have a little spar? I'll be the judge and see who the better one is."

Both Kakashi and Maki heard the offer and agreed to it. Both Jounins then created some space between the two as they prepared for their spar. Sasuke chuckled and relaxed his back on the tree, keen on watching the outcome of the fight.

Although Shizune had a worried look on her face, she was honestly also interested in the fight. After all, two famed ninjas with a high reputation to determine who the better one was would definitely be an interesting fight. Of course, if the two were fighting to the death as enemies would be a different matter.

Tsunade created a set number of seals then bit her thumb. She then summoned a small sized slug to her side and gave the slug instructions. The slug then went off in its way, leaving a confused Shizune.

"I'm sure Sakura will want to watch this." Tsunade explained as the two watched the slug disappear from sight. Shizune nodded in agreement, knowing the younger Hokage's assistant would definitely not want to miss this.

***Present time***

"A spar between uncle Maki and Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura repeated and then turning to look at her uncle. Maki had tied his long hair into a ponytail, something which he had only done when he was serious.

Tsunade smirked, "It'll be a first time for me to see them in action anyway. This should be interesting."

With the waiting done, the spar could finally begin. Maki and Kakashi smirked at one another, realizing that although the two had partnered with one another numerous times, they rarely sparred with one another. And even if they did, it was only for training and had not gone full out. But now that their abilities had come into question, it had become a competition and the two would want to prove who the better one was.

Kakashi rarely liked competition, as evidenced by his lack of interest of a rivalry between him and Maito Gai. Maki himself rarely competed but this would be a rare time when the two wanted to prove who the better one was.

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan, analyzing Maki, 'In terms of this fight, Maki has the advantage the longer the fight goes,' Kakashi thought, 'He has a large chakra supply, almost at a Bijuu level so the fight will be in his favor the longer the fight last. However, he loses out in terms of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu to me. I'll need to end this fight quickly. But with his shadow clones, it'll be risky to engage him directly.'

Maki drew out a custom kunai and began his analysis of Kakashi, 'If I'm to fight in Taijutsu, I'll lose out thanks to his Sharingan. However, if I can get the momentum to confuse him with shadow clones, I'll have the upper hand. In terms of Ninjutsu, I'm also at a disadvantage and will lose hand down. But since I have more chakra, I have the upper hand the longer the fight lasts. So that means…'

As if reading each other's minds, both came to the same conclusion. Kakashi needed to end the fight early whereas Maki needed to force Kakashi to burn chakra. With that conclusion in mind, both immediately formed their attacks and defense.

Kakashi leaped forward immediately, drawing a set number of seals. Maki jumped back and quickly formed a number of seals.

"Fire release! Phoenix Fireball technique!"

With the large ball of fire headed for him, Kakashi finished the seals needed. The one advantage that Kakashi had right now was that Kakashi only had Fire techniques whereas Kakashi had nearly all five elemental techniques due to his Sharingan.

"Water release! Water Shark Missile technique!"

A wave of water in the shape of the shark collided with Maki's fireball, neutralizing the two techniques. With Kakashi closing the gap, Maki threw a shuriken and formed a seal.

"Shuriken Shadow Replication technique!"

Kakashi's Sharingan allowed him to anticipate all the shurikens thrown at him and parry the few that would have hit him. Kakashi knew what Maki was trying to do. He was forcing Kakashi to burn his chakra but Kakashi was smart enough not to do so. Finally, Kakashi was close enough to Maki to engage in Taijutsu.

'Not good!' Maki thought.

Kakashi now had where he wanted Maki to be. Although Maki was good in Taijutsu, Kakashi was better due to the Sharingan. As it could predict all Maki's moves, Kakashi had the advantage and Maki's first priority now would be to escape this zone, which Kakashi would prevent Maki from attempting any escape.

Kakashi swung his kunai at Maki and Maki parried the attack. Kakashi was now taking advantage of the close proximity by building the pressure; throwing attacks that Maki could only concentrate on evading and blocking them.

Maki blocked a kick thrown at him and used this momentum to hop away, creating a set of seals. However, with the Sharingan, Kakashi easily saw what Maki was planning and easily formed his own set of seals and he was faster at it too. Maki then opened the palm of his right hand.

"Lightning release! Fingers of Destruction technique!"

Maki cursed as five bolts of lightning was thrown at him and he jumped high into the air, avoiding the bolts of lightning. Kakashi anticipated this and was already in the air, throwing a kunai wrapped with an explosion tag. Maki had to stop his seals to parry the kunai, exploding just a second later.

As Maki landed on his feet, Kakashi immediately engaged Maki once more, not allowing Maki to regain any composure. It was at this stage that the small audience could see that Kakashi would win the fight if Maki does not do something.

When Kakashi swung his kunai in an arc and Maki ducked the attack, Maki finally counter-attacked. Still holding onto his custom kunai, he threw the kunai to the ground landing behind Kakashi and drew out another custom kunai on time to block Kakashi's attack. As they were locked in that stance, Maki formed a seal with his left hand.

"Release!"

A shadow clone instantly appeared from the custom kunai on the ground, delivering a roundhouse kick at Kakashi. The son of the White Fang was forced to back off, avoiding the attack. As the clone charged at Kakashi, Maki backed off. Kakashi avoided a fist thrown at him from the clone and gave a fatal blow on the gut, dispelling the clone.

"Shadow Replication technique!"

Five clones of Maki appeared by the pink haired Jounin's side and it was Kakashi's turn to be on the defensive. He had hoped to defeat Maki before he could create the clones but now it was all in vain as the five clones sprinted towards him. The original Maki followed from the back as he formed seals.

"Fire release! Wave Dance technique!

The fire released by Maki moved in a zig-zag manner, covering a wide area and with the clones closing in, Kakashi had little time to think. Each of the clones threw a shuriken towards Kakashi, forcing him to roll to his right just where the Fire wave was coming. The copy ninja formed seals at an incredible pace.

"Earth release! Earth Style Wall!"

Kakashi then placed both of his hands on the ground, creating a large wall at least five meters high and blocking the Fire technique. The clones by then had flanked Kakashi, one of them actually landing a blow on Kakashi allowing the other clones to pounce on him. To their astonishment, the Kakashi they attacked disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone?" All of the clones muttered in shock.

All five clones surveyed their surroundings but could not locate the original. However, for Kakashi to use a shadow clone was disastrous as it chunks a large chakra and Kakashi's chakra reserves were not a lot. Suddenly, the clones heard something being dragged under and found Maki pulled into the ground.

"Earth Release! Inner Decapitation technique!"

Much to Kakashi's disappointment, he had dragged down a clone as it disappeared in a puff of smoke. This gave Kakashi's location away the all five clones immediately headed his way like a pack of hungry dogs and not to mention three more clones had appeared from the trees.

'Great,' Kakashi thought as he prepared himself, 'I lost sight of the original one.'

From the trees, the original Maki watched as his clones ganged up on the copy ninja. He was waiting for the right time to release his custom kunai when Kakashi was busy, hence finishing the match. However, if he missed, it would give his location away which he did not wish to happen.

Tsunade chuckled as she watched Kakashi fight off the clones, "Maki now has the upper hand. So long as Kakashi can't locate the original, he will waste precious stamina and chakra just fending the clones off. Exactly what Maki wants."

Before Shizune could say anything, Tsunade continued, "However, Maki probably knows that Kakashi's not dumb enough to waste time. Kakashi is known to analyze things quickly and put that to his advantage. Knowing that, Maki probably wants to end this as quickly as possible even if he's at the advantage the longer the fight ensues."

Sakura inside was happy that Maki seemed to have the upper hand, watching Kakashi struggling to keep up with the six clones. Kakashi had managed to destroy two of the clones and it was obvious Kakashi was trying to conserve chakra by not using any techniques to obliterate the clones.

As for Sasuke, he was enjoying witnessing the fight between two Jounins who were considered the top ninjas other than the Hokage or Sannin. It was almost impossible to tell who would win and Sasuke concluded that whoever made the first mistake would be the loser.

When Kakashi destroyed another clone, Maki finally took this as a chance. With quick reflexes, he threw his custom kunai. Kakashi heard the sound of a kunai thrown, whispering through the air. It was thanks to the Sharingan that Kakashi spotted the kunai and avoided the kunai. Kakashi now knew where the original Maki was.

"Release!"

Another shadow clone appeared but Kakashi had enough with the clones. The next move was a risk as he had never used it and only heart about but he channeled chakra throughout his body. As the six clones leaped on Kakashi, he released the chakra, creating a field of electricity bursting out of his body. Immediately, all clones were destroyed but so was his technique.

'Well, it seems I can't keep up the Lightning Armor like how I hear the Raikage does,' Kakashi thought, glaring at the direction where Maki had thrown the kunai, 'but it served its purpose in destroying the pesky clones!'

Maki immediately created two shadow clones, appearing out of the tree. Kakashi formed two simple seals as the three Maki's were coming at him. With his Sharingan, he easily read their movements and finished the seals required for his next move.

"Air Disorder!"

Kakashi's right palm was engulfed with white chakra. It was a simple Wind technique that enhanced the strength of the user. As the clones arrived, Kakashi smashed his right palm into the clone and continued on to the next clone, destroying the two clones quickly.

Right before the original Maki neared Kakashi, Maki released the custom kunai he was holding, landing on the ground. Kakashi threw a set of shurikens at Maki, forcing the pink haired Jounin to block them with a new custom kunai. The two once more engaged in Taijutsu but Kakashi was clearly the better one.

When Maki threw a punch, Kakashi side-stepped, grabbed Maki's wrist and threw him a few meters away. Maki trashed on the ground but he quickly rolled back on his feet. Kakashi was now low on chakra after using a few high level techniques in the beginning and his usage of Sharingan, so he knew he had to end the match. Kakashi quickly created a set amount of seals.

"Earth Release! Earth Style Wall!"

A large wall erupted right behind Maki, blocking Maki from going any further. It was here that Maki knew that the match would end, deciding who the winner would be. Kakashi quickly created three seals and Maki knew those seals. He would have done his own, but his took too long and Kakashi would take the chance to take him down then.

"Raikiri!"

With a burst of speed, Kakashi sprinted forward, his Sharingan watching Maki's every move to make sure there were no counter-attacks. Maki cursed under his breath and ran forward to meet Kakashi, drawing out a new custom kunai.

Tsunade grinned as she watched the finale coming and the winner would be the first one to strike. When Maki was close, he threw his custom kunai at Kakashi but Kakashi easily evaded the kunai. Still closing in, Maki quickly formed a seal.

"Release!"

Two clones appeared, one from the custom kunai just thrown and one on the ground that Maki had purposely dropped it earlier. Kakashi realized now that Maki had planned this but it mattered not. Kakashi closed the gap and his Raikiri was close to pierce Maki whereas the two clones drew out a kunai and lunged to stab Kakashi in the back.

The two elite Jounins stopped there, realizing the match was over. Kakashi's Raikiri barely inches away from Maki's heart whereas the two clones had their kunai's just centimeters away from Kakashi's back. The two Jounins stared eye to eye, sweat rolling down their faces and impressed with the outcome of this short spar.

"I guess it's a draw then," Tsunade finally said, clapping her hands, "A good fight."

"A draw? Isn't Kakashi the better one?" Sasuke questioned, referring to the fact that he had a Raikiri close to Maki.

"This is a spar so the two couldn't go full out against one another," Shizune explained, "If they were fighting as enemies to the death, it would have been a different case."

Tsunade was about to say something when something with lightning speed dashed towards the two elite Jounins. Maki saw the figure coming at him but he could not react on time. The figure spun and gave a thunderous kick at Maki's chest, throwing him away and even breaking through Kakashi's wall. Maki landed a few feet away, groaning in pain. Sasuke was surprised by the sudden entrance, not sensing his arrival and wondering what he was doing here whereas Sakura was immediately worried for her uncle's condition.

"Dynamic Entry!" Gai screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Gai!" Kakashi stated in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Gai grinned, flashing his shiny teeth and then pointing at Kakashi, "Kakashi! How could you have a spar without inviting me! Ooh, I could feel the intensity of the fight and rushed her as quickly as I could. Now… Let's continue the training as the flame of youth burns within!"

Kakashi sweat dropped, trying to calm Gai down, "We're already done with the spar, Gai… We…"

Before Kakashi could continue, Gai threw a series of punches at Kakashi which took the copy ninja by surprise. Normally, Kakashi could see through the attacks easily but he was exhausted and he could not keep up. Gai was excited, finally landing a kick which threw Kakashi towards a tree.

"Yosh! This is…"

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

From above, Maki released a gigantic fireball at Gai but the Green beast of Konoha easily avoided the fireball. However, Gai had not expected Maki in front of him and the pink haired Jounin easily landed a surprise kick on Gai's cheek. Gai staggered back a little, feeling the pain on his cheek.

Behind Gai, Maki landed on the ground and Gai realized at this time that Maki had already created a clone earlier. Gai smiled, expecting no less from the man famous for his use of shadow clones. Gai charged towards Maki, the two engaged in Taijutsu but it was obvious that Gai was far superior.

"Tsunade-sama! Shouldn't we stop them?" Shizune pointed out, a worried expression on her.

Tsunade laughed, "Relax! It's not always we get to see these Jounins all pumped up!"

As Kakashi recovered and was about to join in the fight, a number of shurikens were thrown in his direction. Kakashi quickly rolled forward, barely avoiding the shurikens. In front of him, the son of the 3rd Hokage invited him for a duel, although it could be clearly seen that Kakashi would lose.

"Don' worry Kakashi," Asuma teased, "I'll go easy on you."

Asuma then began circulating through a number of seals. Kakashi recognized the seals as Asuma blew black smoke towards Kakashi. The son of the White Fang backed away and retreated to the woods, hoping to gain back some momentum. Asuma was about to chase Kakashi when another figure intervened.

"Not so fast, Asuma-san," Genma said, drawing out a kunai, "Your opponent is me."

From the side, Sasuke could see a fight in every corner. Maki was still engaged with Gai although it was obvious that Maki was trying to create some distance. On the other hand, Kakashi was attacking from a distance while Asuma went against Genma. It was utter chaos as the Jounins were locked in battle, enjoying every minute of it.

"Well…" Tsunade finally said after ten minutes, cracking her knuckles, "Time to end this… It's getting out of hand."

***Evening time, Konoha***

Haruno Maki groaned in pain as the nurse added some sort of liquid to apply to his wounds. His niece looked on from where she stood, sighing every few minute. She felt that sometimes her uncle was still an immature idiot, much like Naruto. She basically scolded him as medic-nins carried Maki to the hospital.

Well, Maki was not the only injured one though. When Tsunade joined in to put a stop to the training session, most of the elite Jounins suffered the Hokage's wrath. All of the elite Jounins involved were now in the hospital, Kakashi being treated for chakra exhaustion, the major case that had to be treated quickly.

When the nurse was done, Maki grinned at his niece, scratching his hair in shame. Sakura shook her head in disappointment. Maki knew he was going to be in trouble when he was allowed to return home, knowing Suyuki would give him hell.

"Honestly uncle Maki," Sakura began her lecture once more, "Did you have to go overextend yourself?"

Maki laughed sheepishly, "I'm sorry, but it has been a long time since I sparred with them. It brings back memories of my days in the academy."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Well, you have to stay in the hospital for another day at least. I'll tell mother why you're here."

Maki cringed in fear, not wanting to imagine the scolding he would receive tomorrow. Sakura gave her goodbyes and walked out of the ward. He laid down on the pillow to rest until he heard some voices.

"Damn, did you see that?" A voice said to another, a male from what Maki concluded.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that ass!" The two men laughed as they shared their crude jokes, much to Maki's annoyance.

As the two continued joking around, a kunai whisked through the ward, hitting the wall and close to the two men. The two immediately shut up in fear, turning to look at Maki.

"Will you guys please shut up?" Maki stated, another kunai in his hand, "I'm trying to get some sleep."

With that, the two men immediately kept their mouth shut.

Maki laid down on the pillow and looked out the window. A year and a half had gone by since his blonde student had left Konoha for a training journey with Jiraiya. He had heard no news from Jiraiya and wondered how the two were doing.

As Maki closed his eyes, he soon drifted off to sleep, once more dreaming of the woman he had loved in his childhood, a ninja of the Sand Village.

**And that ends the chapter. Do drop a review :) **


	58. The return of Uzumaki Naruto

**Alright guys, here's the new chapter. Hope you guys will enjoy this chapter :D  
Let's see… Naruto and Sakura are the same in the Shippuden, only difference is that Sakura's hair is still long and Naruto wears a black shirt.  
As for Sasuke, I've already described his outfit in the last chapter… For all of you that demanded to know their current attire :P  
Hope you enjoy this chapter and please drop a review : )**

**Next chapter, "Team 7 vs The Twin Kages"**

**CHAPTER 58: RETURN OF UZUMAKI NARUTO**

A long two year had passed by Konoha and many had changed throughout the two year course. One key factor in Konoha's change was the new addition to the Hokage monument, with the 5th Hokage sculptured next to its predecessors. It was a year and a half project and it was finally done just three months ago.

By this time, Uchiha Sasuke was one of the rising ninjas of Konoha, having gained the status of an elite Jounin. Of course, Shikamaru was the first among their group of friends to gain that status but it was a great achievement for obtaining the status at such a young age.

It was another morning for Konoha as the village continued its busy schedule, with villagers buzzing in the streets. There were ninjas patrolling the streets but some tend to laze around with the villagers, chatting with friends at shops or stalls. It was not unusual as the village was at peace so there was no need to be at full attention.

At the main gates of Konoha, Izumo and Kotetsu were assigned the boring duty to watch over the gates. The two Chuunins sighed in boredom, wishing they had taken up patrol duties. However, someone had to do it and today it was their turn to watch the gates. As another merchant entered Konoha, Izumo returned to his seat, pulling out a deck of cards.

"Come on," Izumo cried, "Let's play a game…"

Kotetsu sighed, entering the guard booth and taking a seat opposite of Izumo, "Why do we have to do this?"

Izumo shrugged, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it and complaining won't change anything."

The two picked up their cards and began the silent game. Every few minutes, they would have to pause their game as merchants entered the city or when ninjas left were leaving the city as they had to register them. This way, if the team of ninjas had no returned within a date, another team would be sent to their location to confirm about the situation.

Another five minutes passed when two figures entered through the main gates. Izumo got out of the booth to question and register them when he immediately recognized the larger figure among the two. The man carried his famous scroll on his back with his flowing white hair, grinning at Izumo.

"Jiraiya-sama…"

The toad Sannin grinned as the two Konoha guards stared at him. After all, Jiraiya was a legend and not every ninja got the privilege to have actually seen him. Although he was helped during the invasion of Konoha, not many saw him during the battle.

Next to Jiraiya was someone that Izumo and Kotetsu found familiar but could not place their finger. His wavy blonde hair was at the same length of the 4th Hokage and he wore a black shirt with a weird orange, which Izumo found it weird for such a bright color. He only knew of one ninja that had a particular fondness for that color and it was only then that it hit him.

"Naruto?"

***Konoha, business district***

In the very heart of Konoha, the business district was the busiest area in all of Konoha, which lies close to the stadium where the Chuunin exams had taken place two years ago. The Ichiraku Ramen stall was also located here and Maki recalled how he would normally find Naruto here.

Currently, Maki and Sasuke were assigned patrol duties in the business district. Now that Sasuke was an elite Jounin, the council felt the Uchiha should be safe from Orochimaru's grasp and would be allowed to resume doing missions. Although Sasuke was bored with patrol missions, at least he would soon be allowed to follow his teacher on missions.

"Can't we just go ahead and train instead of patrolling?" Sasuke stated, obviously bored out of his mind as the duo passed through the same stall for the third time.

Maki rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Normally, I'd just my clones to patrol, but seeing that you're still new to this, I've to be with you and show you the ropes. So no, we can't go and train."

"Even an idiot knows how to do this." Sasuke responded, "It's just walking around the street for the next five hours!"

"Stop complaining and let's just get this mission over with," Maki ordered, "I hate patrol missions as much as you do."

Sasuke sighed heavily, "Does Kakashi ever do patrol missions?"

Maki gave no response and Sasuke guessed that the copy ninja did not. After all, the only reason why Maki went on patrol missions according to him was to earn some extra income. For now, since that he was given the green light by the council to resume taking missions by tomorrow, he could put up with one day.

By tomorrow, he would be off to do some A-rank mission with Maki and Kakashi, assuming that the two elite Jounin were present. The council would have no one else to accompany Sasuke on missions as the two were one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha other than the Sannins and the duo complement each other effectively. That was the only condition that had to be obeyed if Sasuke were to go on missions.

Normally Maki would have stopped by the Hokage tower during his patrol missions to check on Sakura but he could not do so today. After all, the girl sometimes worked herself too hard. Not to mention Maki despised the eyes that gazed at her from the men in the administration office. It was only in his presence that they dared not to even look at her.

Sakura simply ignored the glares by the old men that were probably fantasizing about her. Maki had told her about them, and although she found them uncomfortable, she knew she could handle herself should any of them attack her. She doubted any would do so being the Hokage's apprentice after all.

"Where's Kakashi anyway?" Sasuke questioned.

Maki shrugged, "Who knows. He has a free day today, so I'm pretty certain he's around probably reading that book of his."

Sasuke chuckled, "The book's pretty good actually…"

Maki raised an eyebrow, glaring at Sasuke, "You've read the book…?"

"Hei, the plot's really good!" Sasuke retorted, blushing lightly, "And… the other bits are… interesting…"

The pink haired Jounin shook his head in exasperation, "I'm pretty sure what that other bit is. I never thought the all-serious Sasuke is actually a pervert deep down…"

"Shut up! All guys..." Sasuke began but he stopped in mid-sentence.

Maki also noticed from where the two stood. Right in front of them, precisely twenty meters away was Jiraiya. Maki could immediately tell from the long white hair and the familiar clothing. Next to the tall man was a blonde ninja and he had grown a lot taller from what Maki remembered. His hair was slightly longer than when he was twelve and it almost resembled his father.

"Yo! Maki-sensei! Sasuke!" Naruto called out, waving.

"Naruto…?" Maku muttered but Sasuke walked to Naruto, smirking.

"I see you're back, idiot." Sasuke said, crossing his arms on his chest when he reached Naruto.

"Heh, it's good to be back," Naruto responded, "You've changed some… Although I doubt you changed much in skill."

Sasuke laughed lightly, "I wonder if your tongue is the only think that got better in the two years. I'll kick your ass easily if we fought!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Naruto retorted, "With all the new Jutsu's I've learned, I'll wipe the floor with you under a minute!"

The two continued smart-mouthing one another until Maki finally reached them but Jiraiya immediately grabbed Maki and brought him a distance away to have a little chat. After all, Jiraiya would prefer to discuss with Maki about the current situation without Naruto or Sasuke interrupting them.

"Maki, how's things in Konoha?"

"So far so good…" Maki explained, "The council are slowly softening up on Sasuke, giving him the green light to go on missions by tomorrow. I swear, it's almost as if you timed your return!" Maki paused for a moment and then continued, "We've trained Sasuke in the past two years, but you'll have to see for yourself I you think he can fend off Orochimaru. What about you, Jiraiya-sama? Have you learned anything about the Akatsuki?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Like I said, they've become more active now. As a matter of fact, my network discovered that they'll strike for the Ichibi first and probably soon too."

"Shouldn't we alert the Sand village?"

"I already did," Jiraiya answered quickly, "I dispatched a messenger frog to alert the Sand village regarding the Akatsuki's movements. They should be on high alert. However, I won't be surprised if the Sand or Tsunade herself order some to assist the Sand against the Akatsuki."

"Do you have any idea who will be striking for the Ichibi?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "Unfortunately, I was unable to come up with anything. About three months ago, I found the identity of another Akatsuki… Sasori of the Red Sand. Since he was a former Sand ninja, I assumed it would be him to attack the village but…"

"It's not him?" Maki finished the sentence.

"No…"

The two were silent for a while. Jiraiya was thankful that Naruto and Sasuke were still conversing with one another and they had not disturbed his discussion. In a way, Naruto was lucky that his best friend had not defected Konoha for power, something he could not accomplish when Orochimaru left the village. He even tried to stop him but it was all in vain.

"Anyway, I need to report to Tsunade about my return and also to give the update to Kakashi." Jiraiya stated, preparing to leave.

"Kakashi's probably somewhere lazing around, reading your book. He shouldn't be too hard to find." Maki winked.

Jiraiya laughed and then went off. Maki smiled but he was troubled about the fact that the Ichibi would be the first among the targets of the Akatsuki. He wondered if the Akatsuki were going after the tailed-beast by their numbers. If that was so, should it not be easier for the villages to protect their Jinchuuriki's?

"Maki-sensei!" Naruto called out, tapping his shoulder, "Aren't you gonna greet me?"

Maki was startled but his joy of seeing his student immediately threw his troubled thoughts away, "Naruto! It's been so long! You've definitely changed a lot!"

Naruto grinned with pride, "It's good to be back!"

Maki smiled at this student, noticing the change in his appearance. Indeed, Maki felt that Naruto was growing up to be just like his father in terms of appearance although he had to say with his loud attitude; he had received his mother's share. Still, it was good to finally see that Naruto had returned safely to Konoha.

"How was your training?" Maki enquired.

"Oh, it was tough!" Naruto exclaimed, "Firstly, I learned a new form of the Rasengan but it took me a while since the pervert was busy doing his research instead of helping me." Maki laughed for a moment and Naruto continued, "But the perverted Sannin also helped me in teaching me some new Jutsu and helped me in Taijutsu."

"I hope you didn't pick up any habits from Jiraiya-sama." Maki joked. A moment of silence forced Maki to fear the worst, "What? You became a pervert too?"

"No!" Naruto immediately replied, blushing, "I mean… well… It's not like I purposely peeked or anything… but…"

Maki sweat dropped, "So… you peeked at naked women?"

"I wasn't doing it on purpose!" Naruto tried to explain, still blushing madly, "I was training and the perverted old man told me to come and see something."

"Heh, why don't you just admit that you're a pervert deep down..." Sasuke commented.

"Shut up! Besides, you yourself took a peek once in the bath house!" Naruto's response caused Maki to glare at Sasuke with a disapproving glare.

The accusation immediately caused the two to begin another argument once more. Maki honestly wondered how the two could be considered good friends when they spent most of their time arguing with each other.

"Alright, stop it," Maki said loudly, "Come on… I'll treat you to some Ramen."

"Aright! Let's go!"

"You coming, Sasuke?" Maki invited as Naruto excitedly made his way towards his favorite Ramen stall.

Sasuke shrugged, "It's better than resuming our patrol mission."

Maki simply laughed as a response as he walked between his two students, both already catching up to him in height. Maki had to admit, it was nice that they could return to the old days.

***Sand village***

The Sand village recovered much later than Konoha after the invasion two years ago. The fact that their Kazekage was murdered and they also lost a large number of talented ninjas, it took the Sand some time before they were the same powerful village as before. However, they had recovered and as allies to Konoha, they were secure from any threats.

Of course, their military strength was never the same. Most of their elite Jounins had fallen in the invasion and they had to begin anew, training the young generations hoping that they could one day replace the ones that had died. It would take time but the Sand hoped it would recover.

Despite that, the new Kazekage was elected just under a year ago. It was quite a problem when the village had no official Kage and Baki had assumed the office as he was best in dealing with the position. However, they finally elected one and he was basically the youngest Kazekage in the history of the Sand.

Subaku No Gaara was elected as the Kazekage at the mere age of thirteen. It was surprising how Gaara had grown in skill in just under a year but he was definitely Kage material. Although there were some of the council that rejected the idea since Gaara was a container, the voice of the young generation who knew little of Gaara's true story voiced their love of Gaara.

Currently, Gaara was attending a meeting with the other council members regarding the recent threat of Akatsuki, an organization that wanted the tailed beast, mainly the Ichibi within Gaara. Baki was the only one among the council he recognized and was also his appointed advisor.

"We cannot ignore the message by the Toad Sannin of Konoha. Surely, if he says they're now on the move and after the Ichibi, we should put the village on high alert!" A council member pointed out.

"We don't even know what the guards are supposed to look out for!" Another council member stated, "What's the point of being on high alert if they don't know…"

"We do," Baki answered, "According to the report by Jiraiya-sama, the Akatsuki wear black outfits with red clouds imprinted on their clothing. That should give us a clear idea of what they look like."

"Even so…"

Gaara was quiet as the council began bickering regarding the protection of Gaara. Indeed, when Naruto came to visit the Sand village half a year ago, he was told about the Akatsuki personally by him. It was nice that Naruto stopped by to visit him when he was still travelling around the world while training.

The fact that the Akatsuki consisted of S-rank criminals were indeed troubling, even if Gaara had grown in skill tremendously. Now, Jiraiya had just delivered a message that the Akatsuki were on the move and it was no wonder the council immediately called for a meeting.

"We'll increase the guards by the entrance of the village," One of the council said, "And put them on high alert. We cannot risk the Akatsuki even entering the village."

As if on cue, an ANBU squad immediately headed off to deliver the message.

"Kazekage-sama," A council said, catching Gaara's attention, "You should return back to your office. We'll handle things from here."

Gaara merely gave a grunt as his response and rose from his seat. Baki simply nodded as Gaara left the meeting room. Two ANBU ninjas were waiting for Gaara and stood by his side as escorts as he made his way back to his office. Normally, it would have been his siblings that were his personal guards but Kankuro was not present and Temari was at Konoha for official business.

When Gaara entered his office, the ANBU escorts bowed and left the office. Gaara took a seat and browsed through the large stack of papers on his desk. The one thing he despised being the Kazekage was the paperwork but it had to be done. Besides, as Kazekage, he had the sole responsibility to defend the village and its people, something which he grew to love thanks to Naruto's influence.

"Come in…" Gaara simply said and the door opened.

Hajime Himura, the former teacher to Gaara's team entered the office. As an elite Jounin of the Sand village, she was once a candidate to be Kazekage although she declined the offer, explaining she was not fit for the position.

"How was the meeting?" Himura asked, approaching the desk.

Gaara sighed in frustration, "Typical reaction from the council. They're putting the guards on high alert just because…"

"Don't say it Gaara," Himura advised, "Just because some of the council see you nothing more than a container… Does not mean that…"

"I know," Gaara interjected, turning to look outside the window, "I know… Not everyone sees me like that but…" Gaara stopped his sentence there and turned towards his former teacher, "Anyway, what brings you here, sensei?"

"Nothing, I was just concerned over one of my students. I'll take my leave, Kazekage-sama…" With that, Himura left the office, leaving Gaara wondering what she really came here for.

***Konoha***

After a light lunch from Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto wanted to tour around Konoha, to see what changes Konoha had in the two years. Sasuke excused himself after lunch though, claiming he wanted to return to the Uchiha compound. Maki hoped that Tsunade would excuse them on their patrol mission since Naruto had returned.

As they turned a corner, Naruto immediately stopped walking and Maki had to come to a halt. Maki wondered why the sudden stop and looked ahead and that was when he found the answer.

"Na… Naruto…? Is that you…?"

"Sakura… chan?"

Naruto had expected a change in Sakura but he Sakura was beyond his expectations. She had definitely grown more beautiful in his eyes, with her flowing pink hair and her green, emerald eyes. The change in outfit merely enhanced her beauty and the curves added to Sakura's figure had not gone unnoticed by Naruto.

As for Sakura, she could not believe that this was the same Naruto that had left the village two years ago. His hair had grown longer which somehow suited him. Sakura also noticed that Naruto had grown much taller than her, which was not the case two years ago. The two walked towards each other, still unable to tear their eyes away from each other. Naruto laid his hand on her cheek, bent down a little and landed a kiss.

Sakura reciprocated the kiss, wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck. Maki looked away and he noticed a few of the villagers whispering at the scene or ignoring them, although there were a few girls around the age of ten to twelve watching the scene with a blush on their face. Maki also noticed that Tsunade was present and she was grinning at Maki's uneasiness at the scene.

After a full minute, the two young ninjas finally finished their reunion kiss, much to Maki's delight. However, Naruto and Sakura were still oblivious to their surroundings. Maki advanced towards the duo, clearing his throat to catch their attention.

"Oh, uncle Maki…" Sakura greeted, immediately blushing deep red, "I… I didn't notice you were… err…"

"Just drop it," Maki stated, not wanting to discuss what he just saw, "I don't want to talk about it, if possible…"

"Heh, sorry about that, Maki-sensei." Naruto apologized, scratching his head.

"Ignore him," Tsunade exclaimed with a smile, "It's typical for a father-figure to try and avoid watching a scene like that… But anyway, I need you all to head over to my office, we need to discuss something."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." Maki replied and instantly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tsunade chuckled, "He probably wants to get out of her as fast as possible…" Tsunade turned towards her apprentice and Naruto, "But, I do need you all to head over soon. Don't keep me waiting."

With that, Tsunade walked away leaving Naruto and Sakura alone. By now, the street was packed with people once more, going back to their everyday duties. Naruto and Sakura turned towards one another and chuckled at their actions just a minute ago. The two decided to walk to the Hokage tower while catching up with each other.

"So, how have you been, Sakura-chan? Are you still training under the old hag?"

Sakura smacked Naruto's arm playfully, "Show some respect, Naruto! She is the Hokage and one of the Sannins… As for my training, Tsunade-sama had already taught me everything in healing so I'm officially a medic-nin now! Although I can work in the hospital, I'm still under Tsunade-sama as one of her assistants."

Naruto smiled, "That's great!"

"I'm also a Chuunin right now." Sakura beamed and then thought for a moment, "As a matter of fact… You're the only one among us that is still a Gennin, Naruto…"

It took a moment for Naruto before the realization struck him, "What? I'm the only one? Is Sasuke also a Chuunin?"

Sakura shook her head, "Nope. He's an elite Jounin now, at the same rank of uncle Maki actually. Shikamaru is also an elite Jounin while Neji is still a Jounin. The rest of the ones in our age group are Chuunins." Sakura smiled as she finished.

Naruto immediately felt he was so far away from his friends, a black aura surrounding him. He knew Gaara was Kazekage since he visited the Sand village six months ago but to think that everyone had achieved a higher rank than Gennin, it somehow made him feel like he was left behind.

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll catch up in no time." Sakura said, trying to cheer Naruto up.

Naruto groaned and Sakura laughed in response. As they walked past them, some of the villagers that saw Naruto were amazed about Naruto's change in looks. He almost resembled the 4th Hokage and many that used to torment him kept their mouths shut. After all, Naruto had been a ninja for two years and he had done nothing. They slowly began to put their trust on Naruto as a ninja of Konoha.

When they entered the Hokage tower, many welcomed Sakura since she was a regular. Some took a few moments before they realized the blonde ninja was actually Naruto. However, the men stared at Naruto with despise. After all, they knew Naruto was the boyfriend of Sakura and they wanted Sakura for themselves. Thankfully for them, Naruto had not realized their desire for Sakura or there would have been hell to pay.

Naruto and Sakura entered the Hokage office but were surprised to find that Jiraiya, Kakashi and the former 3rd Hokage present. Tsunade gestured for them to enter and Maki was also present as he stood by the door so they had not seen him when they entered.

"Naruto…" Sarutobi greeted warmly, "You've grown up a lot…"

Naruto smiled in return, "Old man! It's been too long… How're you doing…?"

Sarutobi chuckled, lighting up his pipe, "Other than hoping you learn to how to respect your elders, I'm still the same… I am in the council but there're times I wish I could just retire from anything ninja related."

"Hah, that's impossible!" Jiraiya burst out laughing, "And you know it! As the former Hokage, you're a key factor to be in the council."

"Enough!" Tsunade yelled, immediately shutting the two men up in fear, "We don't have all day. Naruto," Tsunade turned towards Naruto, who was also cowering in fear with Jiraiya, "Welcome back to Konoha. I hope you've learned a lot with this perverted idiot for the last two years because the Akatsuki are already on the move."

Naruto was immediately serious, "I know. Don't worry, old hag, I think I can take care of myself now."

Tsunade popped a vein upon hearing the nickname Naruto used on her but decided to ignore it, "Yes, well… However, we'll need to see you in action to determine how much you have all improved."

At this point, Kakashi and Maki stepped forward and stood by Tsunade's sides. Tsunade then continued her explanation, "For that, we want you, Sakura and Sasuke to go against Maki and Kakashi at the training grounds in a test to see how much you've improved."

"We will be watching you during the test," Sarutobi added, "And determine whether or not you're ready for the level of threat that Akatsuki will be brining."

Naruto and Sakura stared at Maki and then at Kakashi. Naruto beamed in confidence, "Fight Maki-sensei and Kakashi-sensei? Well, that won't be a problem!"

Tsunade grinned, "I hope so. After all, Maki and Kakashi combined as a team is known as 'The Twin Kages' and is considered an S-rank level ninja themselves. I'm hoping for a good fight."

At this point, another figure entered through the window. Sasuke landed right next to Naruto forming team seven.

Sasuke grinned in excitement, "A fight with two of my teachers… Alright, I've been looking for a challenge to test my new skills."

Maki and Kakashi simply smirked at the three youth ninjas that they would be facing soon. Their confidence were admirable but they had no idea that Maki and Kakashi had improved in their skills also in the two years. Tsunade had to admit that if she were to fight them as a Sannin, she had no idea who would win. If they had fought two years earlier, she could easily say she would win with a hard fight but now…

"Alright then," Sarutobi said, "We'll see you at training ground number seven. We'll be waiting."

With that, Tsunade, Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Maki and Kakashi all disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto clenched his fists in excitement whereas Sakura wore her gloves, something which she would only do if she was serious. Sasuke cracked his knuckles and turned to Naruto and Sakura.

"You all ready?"

"Let's go!" Naruto answered, the three immediately darting out of the Hokage tower.

***Desert***

Two figures treaded slowly among the sands, their straw hats keeping them cool from the hot, blazing sun. It would take them approximately another day before they would arrive at their destination. There was a nearby town that they decided they could rest before they continued on their journey.

One of them had his weapon, a large scythe placed on his shoulder while the other was weaponless. They continued on in silence until the one wielding the scythe spoke out.

"The sun is fucking hot!" He exclaimed, brushing off a line of sweat, "Why the fuck are we assigned to the one tails? This sucks, seriously!"

"You're too noisy…" His comrade replied calmly, "It's getting on my nerves."

His companion snorted, "That's easy for you to say Kakuzu! You're assigned to catch the container so you get to have some fun! What am I going to do? Huh? I'll be fucking bored just waiting for you to hurry up!"

"I'll make it quick." Kakuzu replied, "Now keep your mouth shut unless you want me to slice your head off."

"Heh, doesn't matter," His partner responded, "I can't die, in case you've forgotten, retard!"

"You can't die," Kakuzu acknowledged, "But you still need my help to put you back up."

That immediately shut his partner up as it made sense. Kakuzu could now enjoy the peace and quiet he desired, at least for another few minutes. All he wanted to do was complete his job; which was obtaining the one-tails, which resided within the Kazekage of the Sand village.


	59. Team 7 vs The Twin Kages

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter. I hope you'll enjoy them :D**

**On a different note, one of the reviews stated a confusion and I needed to clear it up. Yes, Gai's students, Lee, Neji and TenTen are Jounins with Lee and Neji elite Jounins. I mixed them up by stating that only Neji was a Jounin in the previous chapter, my bad…  
Next chapter, "Conclusion & Infiltration"**

**Do leave a review :D**

**CHAPTER 59: TEAM 7 VS THE TWIN KAGES**

Sarutobi and two of his former students were on a tree branch as they watched Maki and Kakashi prepare themselves for the test. The former Hokage had to admit, it was nice that his two students were in Konoha although he wished that his favorite student had remained loyal to Konoha. Instead, he almost destroyed Konoha two years ago but luckily they thwarted his plan.

Kakashi and Maki stood patiently on the training ground as they awaited the arrival of their students. Kakashi had already laid down a few traps just in case they needed them whereas Maki had returned home quickly earlier to add some custom kunai for the battle.

Jiraiya knew Kakashi and Maki were going full out in this fight. The only way team 7 would stand a chance to beat them if they do not underestimate their teachers. Although Jiraiya knew Naruto had improved, if they were going to head into the test with the thought that they could take Kakashi and Maki down, Naruto was going to be greatly mistaken.

"Do you think they have improved enough to beat them?" Tsunade asked.

"It's hard to tell," Jiraiya answered, "If they took Kakashi or Maki alone, sure… But…"

"I guess we'll just have to watch and find out." Sarutobi stated.

A few moments later, the three members of team seven arrived with eager looks on their face. Naruto stood in between Sakura and Sasuke and acted as the team leader. Kakashi and Maki stared at one another before they nodded. The two took out a small object from their pouch.

Naruto could not tell what the items were as they were too far away. Jiraiya saw and immediately chuckled to himself. He had not expected the two elite Jounins to use this as a way to test them. However, normally you would just need one teacher to do this so he was interested in how Kakashi and Maki were going to improvise the rules of the test.

"The rule of the test is simple," Kakashi began, revealing the item he was holding, "It is called the bell test. I and Maki each carry one bell and all you have to do is to get just one bell from either of us and you pass the test." Kakashi then placed the bell into his weapon pouch while Maki placed it into one of the pockets of his Jounin vest.

"Sounds simple enough." Sasuke stated in a relaxed tone.

"Of course, you have a time limit," Kakashi added, "You have until dawn so that gives you precisely…" Kakashi began calculating in his head, "Around twelve hours or so to get a bell."

"So we just have to get one bell and we pass the test?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed," Maki answered, "Assuming you can even get one of them. So that's it for the rules. Other than that, anything goes so long as you can obtain one of the bells."

Sasuke and Naruto grinned whereas Sakura remained neutral. It was obvious that the two boys of team 7 either took Kakashi and Maki lightly or that they were extremely confident about their skills. Kakashi took out a kunai and Maki did the same with a custom kunai.

"We'll be on the defensive," Kakashi whispered to Maki, "However, if we have the chance to strike one of them out, we do it."

"The question is, who?" Maki said, eyeing all three of them, "Each one of them has their difficulties in taking them down."

Kakashi nodded, "Naruto is an identical you. With massive chakra, he can create a vast amount of clones so finding the original will not be easy. Not to mention that he heals quickly, good with Wind techniques and exceptional in Taijutsu."

"As for Sasuke," Maki said now, "He has the Sharingan so he can predict all our moves. If we're to take him down, you'll be the most suited to beat him. You and he can place a Genjustu, and he's also exceptional with both Fire and Lightning technique. Not an easy one to approach."

Kakashi then turned towards Sakura, "And finally your niece. She's a medic-nin so even if we do take Naruto or Sasuke out, it'll be pointless if she just heals them back. She also can heal herself. Not to mention she's trained in Genjutsu, a very unique medic-nin we're up against. However, that's all she has."

Maki and Kakashi then came towards the same conclusion, "So, Sakura is the one that we'll have to eliminate first. With her low chakra supply, she can't last long if she keeps using Genjutsu and healing herself or her team mates."

"Are you done planning?" Naruto asked, his team mates apparently already ready for the test.

Maki nodded, "Anytime you're ready. The test begins now!"

The two Sannins and the former 3rd Hokage waited in anticipation for the test to begin. It was obvious that the two Jounins would be on the defensive and allowing their students to be on the offensive. After all, they wanted to see how they would obtain the bells.

From the formation of team seven, Kakashi analyzed that Naruto and Sasuke were going to be in the front lines. It was smart of them to protect their medic-nin and Maki realized that his students already knew that Sakura was their main target. Maki smiled inside, happy to know that his students were good enough to know their line of thought.

"Let's go!" Naruto cried, charging right for Maki and Sasuke followed suit.

"Maki!" Kakashi called out as the copy ninja formed seals, "Formation two, go!"

Maki nodded and headed straight for Naruto. When Naruto neared Maki, he threw a fist at Maki but the pink haired Jounin evaded it easily. Sasuke had arrived by now and swung a kunai. Maki jumped back to avoid it and by then, Kakashi had finished his seals.

"Earth release! Missile barrage technique!"

Four large pillars erupted from the earth all aimed at Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke jumped up and landed on one of the pillars, resuming his run towards Maki. Naruto rolled to his right and leaped away a few times as the three pillars all missed him.

Naruto released a barrage of kunai at Kakashi, forcing the copy ninja to move out of his current position. Out of nowhere, Naruto appeared in front of him but Kakashi easily landed a kick and Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone…?" Kakashi thought, impressed that he never saw Naruto created the clone.

Meanwhile, Sasuke charged towards Maki while the pink haired Jounin finished his set of seals.

"Fire release! Firewall!"

In front of Maki, a large wall of fire erupted, stopping Sasuke in his path and blinding his vision. Maki was about to launch a valley of shurikens when a shadow coming at him stopped him. Sakura emerged from her uncle's side, throwing a punch. Maki hopped back at the nick of time, Sakura's blow hammering the ground where Maki stood and immediately abolishing the earth.

Everyone watching the fight immediately dropped their jaws in astonishment with the exception of Tsunade. Sakura simply shook her fist, rubbing it tenderly while Naruto and Sasuke were trembling in fear, noting to themselves to not piss Sakura off.

"Didn't expect that, uncle Maki?" Sakura asked sweetly while still putting on a smile.

Jiraiya could see that the two elite Jounins were visibly shaken by the sudden outburst of power. The Toad sannin spoke towards Tsunade, "You taught her your monstrous strength?"

"What did you say?" Tsunade growled, several veins popped in anger.

"I… I mean…"

Tsunade decided to let her old friend go, "Yes, I thought her how to control her chakra to release a devastating attack." Tsunade laughed a little and then started laughing loudly. Sarutobi and Jiraiya looked at Sakura in fear, realizing that a mini-Tsunade had been created.

"Well, attacking her now seems like a bad idea." Maki stated as he landed next to Kakashi.

Kakashi merely nodded as team seven regrouped. Even the two boys of team seven still could not believe what their eyes had witnessed. Naruto concluded Kakashi and Maki had obviously not known of Sakura's abilities for their shock and sudden passive strategy.

In the two years, Sakura had never mentioned of this and Maki wondered what else she had not told him. Maki picked out a custom kunai and got onto the defensive stance.

"I wonder…" Sasuke muttered which caught both Naruto and Sakura's attention.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"The Hokage called them the Twin Kages," Sasuke analyzed, "But not individually. So that means their strength comes when they're together…"

"So if we separate them…" Sakura began and Naruto finished it, "Their strength will be greatly diminished."

"That's right." Sasuke agreed, smiling, "We just need to separate those two and we should be able to get the bells easier than the two together."

Sarutobi nodded to himself when he heard team seven's discussion. It was true that Maki and Kakashi were a foe to be afraid of if they were teamed but if you could separate them, their power would be just that of an elite Jounin. Of course, that did not mean they were weak but if they could destroy Maki and Kakashi's combo, their chances of winning were pretty much assured.

"Naruto, follow my lead." Sasuke instructed.

Sasuke ran towards the two elite Jounins followed by Naruto. Sasuke set a few seals but Kakashi's Sharingan easily read through the seals and he too followed suit. Maki went ahead, prepared to engage the three of them knowing Kakashi would back him up.

"Fire release! Phoenix Sage Fire technique!"

"Water release! Water Shark technique!"

Sasuke's multiple fireballs were easily smothered in flames and forced Sasuke to leap into the air, avoiding the water blast. Maki was about to engage the Uchiha when he spotted five Naruto's headed his way. Maki quickly formed a seal to counter Naruto's attack.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Four clones appeared by the pink Jounin's side. The five Naruto and the five Maki all engaged with each other, throwing fists and kicks. This allowed Sakura to slip through unnoticed and both she and Sasuke closed in on Kakashi. Kakashi stepped back, grinning beneath his mask as he analyzed their plan.

"Separating us, eh?" Kakashi stated, moving into a defensive stance.

"I've been sparring with you for two years, Kakashi…" Sasuke said, "Time I finally beat you!"

With that, Sasuke charged towards Kakashi followed by Sakura. The copy ninja evaded the kunai thrown by Sasuke and immediately closed the distance, stepping ahead and throwing a punch. Sasuke dodged it easily but Kakashi landed a knee on Sasuke's gut, sending him on his knees. Sakura had arrived by then and nearly landed a punch across Kakashi's cheek.

Kakashi hopped back a little, 'Well, she's someone I don't want to get hit.' Kakashi thought.

Sakura concentrated for a moment and then engulfed the palm of both her hands with blue chakra. Kakashi narrowed his eyes upon seeing them. Kakashi knew that whatever that chakra was, it would be best to avoid them. Sakura gathered chakra to her feet and sprinted forward at Kakashi.

The copy ninja evaded the thrust by side-stepping, grabbing Sakura by the wrist. Sakura immediately retaliated, throwing a kick forcing Kakashi to back off. Kakashi continued avoiding the attack, careful not to touch the blue chakra. He was so focused on Sakura that he forgot about his other opponent.

"Chidori! Sharp Spear!"

A blade-shape lightning beam was aimed at Kakashi's chest. The Jounin barely avoided the blade, losing his balance and his sense of position. Kakashi released a sigh of relief as the Lightning beam went past him and he turned towards Sakura. The last thing he saw was Sakura finishing a seal.

Kakashi's surroundings immediately changed, the sky grew darker and the ground had a number of whirlpools. Kakashi easily realized that he was in a Genjutsu thanks to his Sharingan. He spotted Sakura where she was and immediately that was a mistake. With his Sharingan, he made eye contact with Sakura and placed a counter-Genjutsu on Sakura, removing Kakashi from the Genjutsu world and back to reality and instead placing Sakura into a Genjutsu.

"It's mine!"

As Kakashi grasped back to reality, Sasuke was just inches away from grabbing his weapon's pouch. The bell was inside and Kakashi had to prevent Sasuke from obtaining it. Since Sasuke was so close, it was impossible to move away on time or form any seals so Kakashi concentrated and channeled chakra around his body like what he did when he fought Maki a few months back.

Kakashi released the chakra, creating a field of electricity, electrocuting Sasuke. Sasuke screamed in pain and was pushed back by a powerful force, thrashing on the ground. Kakashi maintained the Lightning Armor for another two seconds before the armor disappeared.

Sakura finally came to, spotting Sasuke getting up from the ground. She healed Sasuke and the two glared at Kakashi. Although they had separated Kakashi from Maki, the copy ninja was still a formidable opponent with his large arsenal of Ninjutsu.

"That field of electricity earlier…" Jiraiya observed, "That's quite similar to…"

"Yes, the 4th Raikage of the hidden Cloud village." Tsunade said, answering Jiraiya.

"Since when had Kakashi developed the Lightning Armor?"

Tsunade shrugged, "I don't know, but I witnessed Kakashi using the same technique a few months back but he could only maintain the shield for about a second. He has improved since then I'm guessing."

"It's a little different also," Sarutobi added, "If I'm not mistaken, the Raikage's Lightning Armor simply enhances the Raikage's nervous system. The technique speeds up neural synapses to react faster to danger and to push physical prowess to the absolute limit, allowing for tremendous raw speed. However, Kakashi's Lightning Armor seems to harm any who comes close… A little different from what I see…"

Meanwhile, both Maki and Naruto had dispelled clones after clones only for them to create new ones. Luckily for Naruto, he knew of Maki's tricks with the custom kunai of Maki so he could easily keep an eye on them or avoid them from Maki using them to his full potential.

"Wind release! Air bullet technique!"

Maki chuckled as he created his set of seals, "Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

Naruto's technique was easily overwhelmed by Maki's fireball and it simply increased the size of the fireball. After a couple of seconds, Naruto had disappeared from Naruto's sight and the elite Jounin grew cautious, watching his left and right carefully.

Out of nowhere, Naruto appeared from above, discharging a barrage of shurikens and kunais. Maki blocked a few of them with his custom kunai while at the same time dodging them. Another Naruto appeared on the ground headed right for Maki. The pink haired Jounin threw his custom kunai, destroying the clone and releasing the seal on his custom kunai, generating a clone of his own.

"This is going nowhere." Maki said as Naruto landed on the ground a few feet away from him and his clone.

"Oh, I won't be too sure of that." Naruto replied with a smirk.

Maki narrowed his eyes in confusion when his clone was dispelled. He turned around to find his niece, charging up for a kick. Maki blocked the kick and backed off to create some space. Sakura screamed and landed a fist on the ground, destroying the ground and causing Maki to lose his balance.

"Damn it!" Maki cursed, jumping into the air. Sakura grinned as her plan worked.

"You're mine now!"

Maki's eyes widened as he realized he had forgotten about Naruto. The young blonde had about two clone with him and was right below him, his hands going for the pocket on his Jounin vest where he had hidden the bell. Thinking quickly, Maki grabbed a new custom kunai and threw it towards Naruto. Naruto moved his head to the right to dodge the kunai but Maki still formed the seal.

"Release!"

A clone appeared where the custom kunai was but the clone was too far for it to do anything so Naruto and his two clones ignored it. When Naruto was just an inch away from grasping the vest, Maki formed another seal. Naruto opened the pocket and retrieved the bell easily, raising the bell so that Sakura could see it.

"I got it!" Naruto cried, landing on the ground.

Before Sakura could celebrate, the bell on Naruto evaporated in a puff of smoke, confusing the blonde ninja. Sakura too was confused and found her uncle still standing where his clone had appeared seconds ago.

"Impossible!" Naruto said in disbelief, "I'm sure that I got you and not a clone!"

"Oh you did get me, no doubt about that," Maki responded, picking up his custom kunai, "Unfortunately for you, I developed a new way to use my kunai and my clones as a way to confuse enemies."

"What?"

"It's simple really…" Maki explained, "I place two types of seals now on my custom kunai. One as you know, is to create a clone. The second seal is placed on the clone itself and I just have to release the seal once more to swap places with the clone. In a manner of speaking, it works like the Replacement technique."

'Of course, it costs a huge amount of chakra since it's almost like a space-teleportation technique but on a smaller scale and only where my clones are available…' Maki thought, deciding to not reveal to Naruto about the huge chakra cost.

"Heh, that's something new." Jiraiya commented, chuckling to himself.

"Indeed." Sarutobi agreed, "Another method for Maki to enhance his reasons for being called a replicator."

Naruto growled in frustration and charged head-on at Maki. The replicator threw a punch and Naruto moved to his left, avoiding the attack and throwing a kick. Maki jumped to avoid the kick and threw a custom kunai when he spotted Sakura sprinting towards them.

Sakura was caught off guard by the kunai; a small scratch appeared as it scraped Sakura's right shoulder. Immediately, a clone appeared and grabbed Sakura. The original Maki was having trouble against Naruto when Naruto released a fury of fists, a few landing on Maki. Naruto charged and delivered a powerful kick on Maki's gut, sending him a few meters away. Naruto then picked up a shuriken and threw it on the clone holding onto Sakura, releasing Sakura from the hold.

Maki coughed a small amount of blood on the ground, wiping it off with the palm of his hand. Sasuke suddenly landed right next to Naruto and Sakura, panting as team seven regrouped. Kakashi appeared a few moments later, also panting heavily.

"I see you're having troubles." Kakashi said, referring to Maki's dried blood on the corner of his lips.

Maki grinned, "Oh, they're good… But they just made the mistake of uniting us."

Kakashi nodded, "Time we go on the offensive!"

Both Maki and Kakashi headed straight for team seven. Maki created six clones and to counter that, Naruto created an identical amount. Kakashi knew he should be careful with his chakra usage but he had to go on, creating a number of seals. Maki's clones were close to team seven when Kakashi finished his seals.

"Lightning release! Wrath of exodus technique!"

Kakashi's body was surrounded by lightning and three bolts of lightning escaped from Kakashi's body. Team seven each jumped away as the lightning bold obliterated the ground where they stood. Each of the clones engaged one another and Maki threw a shuriken.

"Shuriken shadow replication technique!"

A large number of shurikens were all aimed at team seven. Due to the large wave, a few scratches landed on Sasuke's left arm but the injuries were minor. Other than that, Naruto created clones to block him and Sakura but none could make it for Sasuke.

"We need to stop them or separate them from their combo!" Sakura shouted.

"Lightning Beast Running technique!"

From the palm of Kakashi's hand, a hound created by sheer lightning dashed immediately for Sakura. The hound was fast and with Kakashi controlling the hound, it would be almost impossible to avoid it. Sasuke stepped up and made a set of seals.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

"Fire release! Great Dragon technique!"

Sasuke's fireball was met with Maki's dragon-shaped fire, both cancelling each other out. The last Uchiha cursed at Maki for acting as a defense for Kakashi. As the hound neared Sakura, Naruto ran up towards Kakashi with a clone next to him. Naruto opened the palm of his right hand and the clone began molding chakra. When Naruto was close, Naruto leaped towards Kakashi.

"Rasengan!"

Kakashi stopped his lightning technique, the hound destroyed. However, with Sasuke and Sakura a distance away, Naruto was left with Maki and Kakashi. Naruto backed off as Kakashi swung a kunai. Maki appeared behind Naruto, throwing a powerful kick on Naruto's back. Naruto crashed onto a tree, nearly breaking the bark of the tree, Naruto groaning in pain.

"We really need to break them apart somehow…" Sakura repeated, healing Naruto.

"Even if we do, we need more time to get one of them…" Naruto stated, "By then, Maki-sensei or Kakashi-sensei will find some way to get back together…"

The two elite Jounins and team seven stood where they were, waiting for one to make the first move. As for Jiraiya, Sarutobi and Tsunade, they were enjoying the match very much. After all, they got to see their students giving their all to overcome two of Konoha's top ninjas.

"Seriously, do you will win…?" Jiraiya asked.

"My bets on Maki and Kakashi."

Both Sarutobi and Jiraiya looked at one another. It was almost safe to assume that team seven would win this round now that Tsunade had cast her bad luck on the Twin Kages. However, they would just have to wait and see before the match could come to a conclusion. For now, it would seem that Maki and Kakashi had the upper hand but fights at high levels were never determined so quickly.

***Sand village, night***

"You look tired, Kazekage-sama…" Baki observed, worried that the threat of Akatsuki would bring troubles to Gaara.

"I'm alright…" Gaara replied, sighing, "I just need to finish these last few paperwork and I'll head back."

Baki nodded in understanding and bowed, "I'll take my leave Kazekage-sama. Do try not to overwork yourself."

With that, Baki left the office leaving Gaara all alone in the office. Indeed, Gaara was more worried about his people rather than himself regarding the threat of Akatsuki. After all, they were S-rank criminals so he had no doubt that they would come after him with any means necessary, even if it meant endangering the lives of the innocent people.

Gaara signed the last of the papers and laid back on his chair, taking a moment to rest. He stared at the picture on his desk. It was a picture taken a year ago, before Gaara had been elected as Kazekage. The picture was of him and his siblings with their teacher one year ago. Ever since he had become Kazekage, he had little time to spend with his brother and sister, not to mention his former teacher. The only time he saw them was when they reported to him regarding missions.

Gaara stood up from his chair and walked towards the window, staring at the full moon in the sky. He then looked at the empty streets with the occasional ninja patrolling, the houses that were dark. At least the people were resting peacefully. As the Kazekage, he wanted everyone to be at peace, but with the threat of Akatsuki, he wondered how long he could maintain that.

Gaara looked up at the moon once more, "Why do I feel… something's not right tonight…"

Gaara hoped that it was simply himself being paranoid and not his instinct being right as he sat back on his chair, the silence greeting him.

***Konoha, training grounds***

A few hours had passed since the test had begun and it was close to midnight now. Team seven only had about five to six hours before their test ended and the match was still even. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were camped near a river, trying to recover their stamina and chakra.

Kakashi and Maki were planted on a tree branch to hide and buy themselves some time. Kakashi was panting heavily and had now covered his Sharingan to conserve some chakra. Maki had offered him some chakra pills but Kakashi refused, stating that if the fight was for real, he would have accepted it but since it was a test, he did not need them.

"They're pretty good, huh?" Maki stated, smiling.

Kakashi nodded in agreement, "Indeed. I've only experienced trouble when we teamed up once, so for them to trouble us so much…"

Maki laughed and Kakashi chuckled a little, taking the time to recover their strength. As for team seven, they too were exhausted and had decided to take a thirty minute break before they would strike once more.

"How… How're we going to beat them…?" Sakura questioned, resting her back on a tree trunk.

"We've already tried separating them but to no avail…" Sasuke added.

Naruto rubbed his head, sighing, "We need to target Kakashi-sensei. Compared to Maki-sensei, Kakashi-sensei has lower chakra reserves and although he can use the shadow replication technique, the cost is too high for him to resort to that move."

"The problem is," Sakura pointed out, "Is that uncle Maki's clones are too many. His clones can act as shields to Kakashi-sensei and even if that isn't the case, Kakashi-sensei has too many Ninjutsu in his arsenal to force us away."

Team seven were silent again, contemplating how to defeat the Twin Kages. Although they had all mutually agreed that Kakashi was a much more logical choice, Maki was much more vulnerable without his clones and only had Fire techniques. However, it was almost impossible for Maki to enter a fight without using his clones or his custom kunai. Not to mention his new way to swap places with a clone.

"I think I know of a way to beat them…" Naruto said suddenly.

"What?" Both Sakura and Sasuke uttered in shock.

Naruto began chuckling, trying not to laugh, "Alright… Listen carefully…"

***Outside Sand village, Night***

Temperatures were low at this time of the night in the desert. Normally, none would travel at this time and prefer to rest as the cool night air would help travelers relax. However, the two figures had walked a large distance tonight and they had finally arrived at their destination.

"Seriously, why the sudden change of plans?" Hidan complained, "I thought we were gonna rest at the town and strike tomorrow!"

"Shut up," Kakuzu instructed, "I can't wait until tomorrow. I've got some bounties I need to pick up and I can't do that until I've got the one-tails…"

Hidan rolled his eyes, "You and your fucking greed for money! Why can't you just devote your life to Lord Jashin? Honestly, what a waste!"

Kakuzu simply gave a glare at Hidan but it did not scare Hidan in the least. After all, he could not die and although Kakuzu had threated to not help fix him up, Kakuzu was still his partner and could not abandon him. After all, he was the ideal partner since Kakuzu had basically slaughtered his previous comrades.

"How the hell are we gonna get in by the way?" Hidan asked, "Unless you plan to slaughter all of the guards by the gates first… Not that I mind."

Kakuzu formed a seal, "No… Doing that will cause too much attention. We'll go in from below."

Suddenly, the ground before them burst open and a tunnel appeared. Kakuzu motioned for Hidan to enter which he did. Kakuzu then followed, jumping into the tunnel.

"So… We'll enter from… below…?" Hidan enquired.

Kakuzu nodded, "The technique will continue to create a path where I go, so long as I have the chakra. Now shut your mouth and keep moving!"

Hidan grumbled a response but he obeyed. The two continued walking below the ground, avoiding detection from the ninjas guarding the main entrance of the Sand village. The Akatsuki pair had successfully infiltrated the Sand village.

**A/N: Oh, and one last important request. I've been getting bored of calling Maki's weapon "custom kunai." Any of you have any suggestions on what to call his unique kunais?**


	60. Conclusion & Infiltration

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter! I must say that it's a pretty short chapter but oh well :/  
hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Read & Review :D It'll please me so much…  
Next chapter, "The role of Kazekage"**

**CHAPTER 60: CONCLUSION & INFILTRATION**

Nothing out of the ordinary were in the eyes of the patrol ninjas of the Sand village as they walked through the empty streets of the night. Even the occasional ANBU ninja that were silently noticed nothing of the ordinary. Between two buildings in a dark alley, there was a disturbance in the ground and slowly, an open hole opened with two figures appearing from the tunnel.

Kakuzu and Hidan stepped out of the tunnel and stood by the alley, allowing the darkness to cover their presence. Hidan immediately groaned and covered his nose, the foul smell irritating him. The Jashin worshipper turned at Kakuzu for their next move.

"Now what?" Hidan enquired.

"Quiet," Kakuzu growled, "Just follow me and keep your mouth shut."

Hidan grumbled but followed the orders of the senior Akatsuki. Kakuzu and Hidan removed their straw hats, no point in hiding their identity since they were in an enemy's village.

"The Kazekage's office is precisely north-west of our location. Come, we'll check over there first."

"How the fuck do you know?" Hidan questioned softly, following Kakuzu.

"Because I've lived longer than you and have been to this village before!" Kakuzu growled, "Now, shut up!"

The duo moved out of the alley and began their walk towards the Kazekage's office. They were fortunate that none of the ANBU patrols encountered them but just five minutes in their walk; two Chuunins that were patrolling their sector encountered the duo.

"Ah, enjoying the night walk?" The Sand Chuunin greeted in a friendly manner.

Kakuzu and Hidan simply stood there, fortunate that the darkness of the night concealed their identity. However, because neither Kakuzu nor Hidan answered, the partner of the Sand Chuunin grew a little suspicious and looked carefully at the Akatsuki pair. Although it was difficult to see, the Sand Chuunin had no doubt about the red clouds on their outfit.

"They're Akatsuki!" The Sand Chuunin spoke, "We have to warn the…"

Before the two Sand Chuunins could even react, both of Kakuzu's hands burst forward and grabbed both of the Sand Chuunin by their necks, choking them and unable to utter a word. The Sand Chuunin struggled for air, but Kakuzu's strength was far too powerful.

'The hell?' The Sand Chuunin thought, 'His hands… are detached from his arms…? By threads?'

Both of the Sand Chuunin could not overcome the sheer power of Kakuzu and they slowly feel their lives seeping away. Kakuzu's cold eyes showed no mercy for them, squeezing their necks tighter to end it quickly. Finally, it was over for the two Sand Chuunins.

In just a matter of seconds, the two Sand Chuunins were killed off easily by Kakuzu. The treasurer of Akatsuki then released the dead bodies, not even bothered to hide the body. After all, he was going to capture their Kazekage so the Sand ninja would know of their presence anyway. It was all just a matter of time. Without a word, Kakuzu continued walking with his partner following behind him.

***Kazekage office***

The 5th Kazekage of the Sand village sighed and finally decided he should head back. He was done the moment he signed the last of the paperwork earlier, but for some reason, he wanted to remain in the office for a little longer. Gaara looked outside through the window one final time before he strapped his gourd onto his back and headed out of the office.

In the dark hallway, the echo of Gaara's footsteps echoed loudly. Normally in the day, the place would be busy with everyone working so to actually witness a time when the place was empty was a nice change for Gaara. Then again, since he was always locked in the office, he rarely had the time to check how busy the place was.

As he continued walking, two shadows appeared from a distance and Gaara knew they were approaching him. Gaara narrowed his eyes and prepared for the worst. Finally, the two figures appeared and they were simply two ANBU guards patrolling the grounds. They nodded at the Kazekage and continued on. Gaara sighed, wondering if his paranoia was getting to him.

The one-tail container made his way out of the building and continued the path to his home. There were a couple of ninjas that were patrolling the village that acknowledged the Kazekage. From the looks of it, Gaara thought that perhaps his paranoia was just that.

***Konoha, Training grounds***

Several hours had passed since the bell test had begun and with how the situation was, team 7 only had about four hours before their exercise would end and that would result in a fail if they do not obtain either bells from the copy ninja or the replicator.

With the strategy they just came up with, they decided to move out immediately, realizing that time was running out. Kakashi and Maki were still perched on the branch, replenishing lost stamina and chakra but slowly. Kakashi especially needed the chakra since all the Jutsu he used earlier truly took a toll on him.

"I wonder what's taking them so long..." Maki wondered.

Kakashi chuckled, "Let them be. The more time they waste, the worse their situation is to pass the test."

"Assuming we can even keep up," Maki pointed out, "After all, you're pretty low on chakra and you refuse to take any chakra pills. With all those high level techniques, you'll be exhausted."

"Same goes to you," Kakashi retorted, "You used up too many of your clone kunai. You only have about three left, and by then you'll have to depend on the normal shadow replication technique, which cuts almost half of your skills."

Before Maki could reply, the two elite Jounins heard rustling of the leaves and the two immediately got on their guard. It seemed that team 7 had already known where they were as one of them approached the tree from below. Kakashi and Maki stood up but it was too late.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura screamed as she landed a punch on the trunk of the tree, easily demolishing it. It forced both Kakashi and Maki to jump away, landing on the ground. Kakashi immediately raised his headband to open the Sharingan.

Naruto and Sasuke were already there and immediately engaged the two while Sakura joined them. Maki found it strange that Sasuke engaged him since it was normally the opposite. Naruto threw a punch but Kakashi dodged the blow, grabbed Naruto by the wrist and threw Naruto away. This was when Naruto placed the plan into action.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out, catching Kakashi's attention, "Do you know about the new book by the perverted Sannin?"

Kakashi cocked his head sideways in confusion, wondering what Naruto was going at. Then, Naruto continued, "Did you know that in the ending…"

Kakashi's eyes widen in shock, 'No…! This can't be!' Kakashi thought in horror, immediately shutting his ears with his hands. However, due to the Sharingan, he could still read Naruto's lips and had to shut off his eyes from not being spoiled of the plot.

"That idiot…" Jiraiya said, shaking his head.

Tsunade laughed, "Well, it's a good way to exploit Kakashi's weakness!"

"Kakashi! What are you doing?" Maki cried out, jumping away from Sasuke.

Naruto grinned in victory, going for the bell. Maki was not going to let it happen and threw a clone kunai while Sasuke released a large fireball towards Maki. The moment the clone was close to Kakashi, Maki released the seal, creating a clone. Naruto was nearly there and the fireball thrown at Maki was also close to him.

"Release!"

At the last second, Maki transferred places with the clone, the original Maki now right next to Kakashi and there to stop Naruto from proceeding. However, Naruto stopped and grinned, the plan going smoothly. As Maki closed in on Naruto, the young blonde ninja formed a seal of his own.

"Transform!"

The puff of smoke blinded Maki's vision and when it all cleared, in front of Maki was a clear image of an attractive female, completely naked with only mist covering the privates. However, it got the effect Naruto wanted, completely stunning Maki and a large amount of blood gushing out of his nose.

"Wha…?" Maki uttered in shock, drool dripping from his mouth.

"I can't believe you're a pervert too!" Sakura screamed in anger, delivering a punch right on Maki's cheek and throwing him a few hundred meters away and breaking several trees in the process.

Naruto transformed back to his self, feeling sorry for his pink haired teacher. Although he knew the technique would surprise Maki, he had not expected Maki to have completely fallen to the trap. It would seem that even Sakura had not expected it and was still clearly upset about her uncle.

"Let's just get the bell…" Sasuke suggested, Kakashi still covering his ears and eyes.

Naruto shrugged and easily picked the bell from where Kakashi hid it. When Kakashi felt someone grab the bell, he knew it was over. It was embarrassing, but to Kakashi, it was simply not worth knowing the spoilers of the latest book that Kakashi had just bought. In front of him, Naruto was holding onto the bell with a victory sign with Sasuke and Sakura by his side, a smile on their face.

"Well, I guess your bad luck on gambling is still with you eh?" Jiraiya joked.

Tsunade rolled her eyes in frustration, "Whatever. At least we now know they're smart enough to exploit the weakness of Kakashi and Maki. And they're good enough from what I can see."

Sarutobi nodded in agreement, "Yes. They've improved a lot in just two years… Well done."

Kakashi looked around, "Where's Maki…?"

"Here…" A voice said from a distance. Team 7 and Kakashi found Maki struggling to make his way to them.

Maki was bleeding badly from the corner of his mouth with a huge mark on his cheek. He knew Sakura's punch was going to be deadly but it all happened so fast. He had not expected a naked girl to appear suddenly and because of his perverted mind, he had paid for it. Then again, he had a feeling he was not the only that would have fallen for the trick as a male.

"You alright, Maki-sensei?" Naruto asked when Maki finally reached them.

Maki rubbed his cheek, "Yeah… I'll be fine… I think."

"Just get over here! I'll heal you!" Sakura ordered, still visibly upset.

Maki obeyed quickly, allowing his niece to heal the bruise he received from her. Sasuke and Kakashi made a mental note to not do anything perverted, at least while Sakura was present among them unless they wanted to suffer her wrath. Honestly, the strength she inherited from the 5th Hokage was not a joking matter.

By the time Maki was healed, Jiraiya, Tsunade and the former 3rd Hokage had arrived at the scene. Kakashi and Maki stepped back to allow the three most powerful ninjas of Konoha to give their analysis of the bell test. Sarutobi cleared his throat before he began.

"Congratulations on passing the test," Sarutobi began, "The fact that you defeated two of Konoha's top Jounin is admirable and it shows that the training that you have received in the two years have benefited you all." At this point, Naruto and Sasuke beamed in pride.

"However," Sarutobi warned, "Don't celebrate yet. You three are far from capable to defeat Akatsuki so you will still need to improve further. Not to mention, Orochimaru will strike soon, Sasuke…"

Jiraiya laughed, stepping in, "You worry too much, sensei! Let them celebrate a little, eh? Besides, I'll be around if anything happens. Not to mention Tsunade is still here."

Tsunade sighed in exasperation, "Honestly Jiraiya… You're too care-free…"

Everyone shared a laugh as team 7 celebrated their victory over the Twin Kages. It was still in the wee hours of the morning and they decided they should head back home and get some rest. It had been a long day and they all deserved some good night rest before they resume any mission or training tomorrow.

"So… how was the punch?" Kakashi asked jokingly.

"Shut up…" Maki replied tiredly, "Because of you shutting your eyes, I basically got ganged up on."

Kakashi had to laugh at that, "I know my bad…"

Maki paused for a moment before he asked, "So, what did you think of them?"

"Oh, they'll be the future of Konoha that we can rest our faith on. After all, they're still young… I just know that Konoha will be proud of them…"

***Forest***

In a distance from the Sand village, precisely about fifty kilometers away, a trio of ninjas was camped as they awaited further orders. The last instruction they received were to await the two that had gone to do their mission. Honestly, the leader of the trio wondered why they had to obey such an organization but their commander insisted it was part of their objective.

The three wore headbands but their headbands had a line across it, signifying that they held no allegiance to their former home village. Two of them were from the Rock village while the other was a former ninja of the Leaf.

"How long do we have to wait?" The leaf ninja, known as Yamui, complained.

"Until they come back with the container," The leader answered, "We have our orders and they have theirs. We're to wait for them until they return and cover them while they commence the Sealing."

Yamui sighed heavily, "Fine, whatever… I just don't understand why the Reapers have to bow down to them. Compared to our organization, they only have like 10 members!"

The leader ignored Yamui's protest but what he said was true. The Reapers had a large number of ninjas, all formerly Rock and Leaf ninjas that had left the village after the 3rd Great Ninja War. However, the organization that only had 10 ninjas was the Akatsuki, and they were powerful enough to wipe out the Reapers if they wanted to. The leader of the trio of ninjas sighed, waiting for Kakuzu and Hidan to finish their job.

***Sand village***

Gaara turned to the left as he entered the local field that the villagers used to relax. Although the Sand village lacked green scenery, the park was beautiful in its own way. So long as there were no sandstorms, the Sand village had its own beauty as a village.

The red haired Kazekage felt that this area was safe. None of the ANBU's was patrolling this area and the ninjas that were assigned here were not present. He felt that if he could take care of things quickly, he could protect any ninjas from harm. After all, this was his duty as the Kazekage and he felt only he could deal with them.

Thirty meters ahead of him, Kakuzu and Hidan were already there, their sights on Gaara. The one-tailed container smiled, feeling that his instincts were right and no wonder he was paranoid throughout the night. The Akatsuki had struck tonight and they were somehow able to sneak past the large number of guards watching the gate of Suna. Then again, they were S-rank ninjas so it was not surprising.

"It looks like you sensed our presence…" Kakuzu spoke out.

"I wouldn't be Kazekage if I failed to do so…"

"I guess you know why we're here then…" Kakuzu said it more of a statement than a question.

Gaara grinned as he took off the Kazekage robe, "I'll take care of you two as quickly as possible…"

Kakuzu scoffed, "I highly doubt it." Kakuzu then turned towards Hidan, "You stay out of this. He's mine."

Hidan rolled his eyes, "I know, fucking retard… Just don't take too long… I'm already growing bored."

Gaara was relieved that it was not going to be a two-on-one. For now, he'll concentrate on the one opponent, hoping that none of the villagers or ninjas would come to harm in this fight.


	61. Role of a Kazekage

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter! I hope you'll all enjoy it :D  
Do leave a review as it will motivate me to write! And I have to thank each and every one of you that has reviewed and continued reading my story :) Thank you!  
Next chapter, "Tragedy in Suna"**

**CHAPTER 61: ROLE OF KAZEKAGE**

Subaku No Gaara, the 5th Kazekage of the Sand village stood his ground as he waited for his enemy to commence the first move. It was a good thing that they chose this place as the battlefield since the field was a place where ninjas do not patrol frequently. However, Gaara doubted that his battle would go unnoticed for long but he planned to end it as quickly as possible.

Kakuzu cracked his knuckles to ready himself and then proceeded to remove his Akatsuki cloak as it would only be in the way of his fight. After all, he was fighting the Kage of a village so he would be going full out. The one time he had gone against a Kage was the 1st Hokage, Senju Hashirama a long time ago and he lost that fight.

"Alright then," Kakuzu spoke out, "Here I come…"

With an amazing burst of speed, Kakuzu charged forward. Gaara instantly summoned forth Sand from the gourd, throwing the Sand infused with chakra at Kakuzu in the shape of shurikens. Despite the speed, Kakuzu was able to see through them and evade the attacks while still continuing in closing the distance with Gaara.

Just as Kakuzu finally reached Gaara, the Kazekage immediately called forth a wall of sand, blocking a devastating punch thrown by Kakuzu. It was so powerful it actually broke through the wall, forcing Gaara to back away. Gaara noticed that Kakuzu's arm had changed into a darker color, different from the color of his skin a few moments ago.

'To think that someone actually broke through my defense,' Gaara thought, 'What is he? That was not a normal blow.'

"I hope you're better than that, Kazekage…" Kakuzu taunted, clearly unimpressed so far.

Gaara narrowed his eyes, "Do not underestimate me."

Gaara raised his arms and the sand around Kakuzu also rose up. Kakuzu surveyed his surroundings, preparing for what Gaara's next move was. Gaara then held his hands together and the sand also followed suit, covering Kakuzu in sand. Gaara grinned in victory, his ultimate killer move almost done.

"Sand binding coffin!"

Gaara then clenched his fists, "Sand Waterfall funeral!"

The sand that wrapped Kakuzu immediately crushed Kakuzu, the fight between the two coming to an end. Gaara sighed, knowing that no one had ever avoided that technique except Naruto during the invasion. It was thanks to Naruto's quick regeneration that helped him survive the murderous technique.

After a couple of seconds, Gaara realized he could still feel Kakuuz's chakra from within the sand. Not to mention, he could not spot any dribble of blood seeping out of the encased sand. As if on cue, Kakuzu broke through the sand, not even a bit wounded from being crushed.

Gaara noticed that Kakuzu's entire body was now noticeably darker, just like when Kakuzu broke through his wall of sand earlier. Gaara concluded that whatever it was, when Kakuzu's skin changed, it allowed his body to become hard enough that he could easily not be affected by Gaara's chakra infused Sand.

"Not bad, Kazekage…" Kakuzu commented, "If it weren't for me hardening my body, I might have died."

Gaara remained silent. He began analyzing his options on what to do next. The fact that one of his ultimate killing move seemed to not even harm his enemy, he had to consider what other options he had. However, Kakuzu was not going to allow Gaara any opportunity to think. Kakuzu formed a number of seals quickly.

"Earth release! Missile Barrage technique!"

About seven large pillars of earth burst from the ground, all aimed at Gaara. The sheer size and speed forced Gaara to not rely on his sand defense, moving out of the way. To his horror, the pillars continued moving forward, smashing on the ground and four of them bashing right into a building.

Gaara growled in anger, looking at the destroyed building. Thankfully, it was empty as the building was a storehouse. Gaara turned back to Kakuzu but found the S-rank ninja had emerged in front of Gaara, his right arm in a dark color. Quickly, Gaara summoned sand in an attempt to stop the attack but it was futile.

Kakuzu broke through the sand and landed a punch right on Gaara's chest, throwing him back. Gaara struggled for breath, the punch landing on one of his lungs. He could tell that a few of his ribs had been broken from the blow, coughing blood as he struggled to get up.

"You're mine!" Kakuzu spoke, his fist prepared to deliver the final blow.

Gaara raised his right arm up, "Sand fissure!"

Directly where Kakuzu stood, the ground burst into the air, taking Kakuzu along as he soared into the air. Gaara got up, still clutching on the wound on his chest, panting lightly. Kakuzu soon landed on the ground but a distance away from Gaara.

"You're unique, using Sand as a means to attack or defend. However, it cannot stop my attacks… You've lost this fight, Kazekage…"

"It's too early to decide the winner." Gaara pointed out.

Kakuzu shook his head, "Believe what you will, but I have the upper hand in everything. Your sand cannot harm me and in terms of experience, I have more than your pathetic young life."

Before either of them could reply, several kunai and shurikens were thrown from above, all aimed at Kakuzu. The treasurer of Akatsuki noticed at the last minute, backing off as the weapons all landed on the ground. Kakuzu looked up and found two Sand ANBU's had appeared, each of them landing by Gaara's side.

"What are you doing here?" Gaara said, looking at the ANBU to his right.

"We heard something crashing while we were patrolling close by," the ANBU explained, drawing out his katana, "We came as fast as we could. No doubt, some might have heard the crash and will bring in reinforcements."

'Ah, the building I destroyed earlier…' Kakuzu thought, 'Well it doesn't really matter. I can take a few more if the Kazekage's capabilities are only at that level.'

The ANBU on the left of Gaara looked back for a moment, checking the building that was destroyed by what seemed like pillars. The ANBU wondered how long Gaara had fought Kakuzu and why he had not bothered to call for reinforcements. It was no doubt that the opponent before them were of the Akatsuki, whose sole purpose in the Sand village was to obtain the one-tailed demon within Gaara.

"No…" Gaara muttered.

Both ANBU turned towards Gaara, "Kazekage-sama?"

"I don't want anyone else to be involved in this fight," Gaara stated, "These guys… They'll kill you… They only want me so don't involve yourselves in this fight…"

Gaara stepped forward, leaving both ANBU's speechless. Although the two of them knew that Gaara simply wanted to protect them as Kazekage, they were the personal guards following direct orders of the Kazekage, and one of their main duties were to protect the Kazekage.

"I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama…" both ANBU said in unison, "But that is one of your orders we cannot obey!"

With that, both ANBU's charged towards Kakuzu despite Gaara calling for them to stop. Kakuzu simply grinned in joy and prepared himself. However, another figure entered the battle, swinging his weapon in an arc. The sudden appearance caught both ANBU's by surprise and barely blocked the large scythe with their katana. The two ANBU backed off a little, eyeing the new opponent.

"Hidan," Kakuzu spoke out, "What are you doing? I told you this is my fight!"

"Yeah, yeah, your fight is with the container. These guys are mine!"

Both ANBU were on their guard as Hidan grinned with malice, licking the sharp edges of his scythe. Kakuzu cared little whether Hidan fought the ANBU or not, so long as Gaara was his.

***East of Suna***

"What the hell was that?"

Kankuro got out of bed the moment he heard some sort of explosion. Kankuro looked outside the window but found nothing out of the ordinary until a squad of three ninjas flew past him. Whatever it was, Kankuro knew he needed to head out now.

The puppet ninja quickly picked up Karasu from his storage room, one of his main puppets and two scrolls that contained two of his other puppets. With nothing else that he felt he needed, Kankuro got out of his room and headed in the direction where he saw the last ninjas were headed.

Kankuro kept a note in his head that there was no fire visible from where he was so he wondered what caused the explosion he had heard. Finally, he caught up with the trio of ninjas he spotted earlier.

"What's going on?"

The leader of the trio, an elite Jounin turned around, "We have no idea! I was just informed by an ANBU that Kazekage-sama was being attacked by Akatsuki!"

"What?" Kankuro responded in shock, "The Akatsuki is already here?"

"It looks like it!" The older ninja replied, "We have to hurry!"

***Field, battle scene***

Hidan laughed as he slashed the remaining ANBU in half through the waist. In two seconds, the ANBU split in half, his torso and legs falling apart. Hidan was still laughing as he wiped the blood on his face. Hidan sighed in relief, looking in the eye at Gaara after he had mercilessly slaughtered the two ANBU.

"Damn you!" Gaara cursed in anger.

"Don't look elsewhere!" Kakuzu said, appearing in front of Gaara.

Gaara threw his arms forward with open palm, summoning forth a large wave of sand all thrown at Kakuzu. The S-rank ninja stopped his attack and jumped high into the air to avoid the wave of sand. However, he lost sight of Gaara as the Kazekage disappeared with the wave.

'Damn,' Kakuzu thought as he landed on the ground, 'That brat has the advantage with the village almost covered entirely in sand. Nearly all of this can be used as his weapon.

Hidan laughed, "Are you having trouble?"

"You just stay out of this!" Kakuzu growled in anger.

Kakuzu looked left and right, unable to locate his target. Out of nowhere, two small wave of sand went straight for him. Kakuzu dodged the attacks with ease but he felt he was going nowhere if he could not locate the person controlling the wave. When he jumped backwards, that was when he spotted Gaara.

The Kazekage of the Sand village was high up in the air, standing on a layer of sand that he used as a platform. Kakuzu was impressed. The fact that Gaara knew his sand could not do much and Kakuzu easily closed the gap between the two, Gaara needed the space to avoid Kakuzu. Kakuzu gave Gaara some credit there.

"Kazekage-sama!" Several voices were heard.

Gaara turned to his right to find several Sand ninjas had arrived, including his advisor, Baki. Hidan grinned, welcoming the idea that more had arrived to entertain him while his partner fought Gaara. The Sand ninjas drew out weapons and were about to enter the fight when Gaara stopped them.

"Stop!" Gaara ordered, creating a wall in front of the Sand ninjas to prevent them from joining in, "You'll just get yourselves killed! Let me handle this!"

None of the Sand ninjas obeyed though as they jumped over the wall of sand and all charged towards Kakuzu and Hidan. Their desire to protect the Kazekage from falling into the hands of the Akatsuki erased any fear they felt going against S-rank ninjas.

Gaara felt he had no choice and quickly formed a seal (**Serpent seal**). Gaara then began concentrating chakra on the technique. Slowly, a large wall of sand rose from the ground and the walls came from all sides to only trap Gaara, Kakuzu and Hidan in the 'box.' However, before the wall could block him, Hidan jumped out of the wall, leaving only Kakuzu and Gaara inside. The large wall of sand continued rising until it stood at twenty meters tall, the only way to enter or exit was from above.

Hidan inspected the wall of sand, poking the wall with his scythe. To his surprise, it took nearly all his strength to pull his scythe back. The wall had a powerful suction, so it was nearly impossible for anyone to enter from above as they would have to climb the wall. The same goes for the ones trapped on the inside, which were Gaara and Kakuzu.

Inside the artificial arena created by Gaara, Kakuzu surveyed his surroundings. Other than the walls being created from Gaara, Kakuzu noted no differences. Everything was the same and with the wall, there would be no outside interference from Hidan or any Sand ninjas.

"You must really want to die," Kakuzu commented, "If you think you can win by isolating me from my partner, you're gravely mistaken."

Kakuzu chuckled from his platform, "Don't think so highly of yourself. The only reason why I trapped you with me was to protect the others from joining in. I know you'll show no mercy on them and I don't want that."

'Although I also wanted to also trap his partner but he got away. I just hope the others will be okay. I'll have to take care of him first.' Gaara thought.

"Foolish boy…" Kakuzu said in response, "You're just like those Kages, putting the well-being of the village than your own safety. That will lead to your downfall."

Gaara gave no response, fully intent on not losing to this man.

***Field, outside of box***

Hidan was completely surrounded by Sand ninjas, around ten altogether and he could see more coming, ANBUs even. However, Hidan simply saw them as people to entertain him while Kakuzu finished off their Kazekage. The immortal Akatsuki gestured for any of them to come forward, licking his lips in anticipation.

"You're from Akatsuki, aren't you?" Baki questioned.

Hidan laughed, "Are we really that famous? But I don't need to answer that. You should already know."

Baki clenched his fists, "You bastard! Why are you after the one-tails? What are Akatsuki goals?"

Hidan shrugged, "Hell if I know. Come to think of it, I have no idea!" Hidan laughed once more, shaking his head, "But I don't care! So long as I can spread the wonders of Lord Jashin, I'll follow whatever Akatsuki wants me to. As a matter of fact, I'll spare your lives if you're interested in Lord Jashin."

"Go to hell, you bastard!" A Sand Jounin yelled, dashing forward.

"Stop!" Baki called out but it was too late.

Hidan grinned mischievously, his scythe at the ready. The Jounin thrust his kunai forward in which Hidan dodged it with no effort. Hidan returned a counter-attack, swinging his scythe horizontally. The Jounin was able to connect the scythe with his own Kunai but it threw the Jounin away and because of the added blades on the scythe, some cuts were drawn on the Jounin's shoulder.

By then, every Sand ninja jumped in, all ignoring Baki's orders. Hidan merely welcomed the vast foes of Sand ninjas. All of the Sand ninjas delivered a volley of shurikens but Hidan jumped back to dodge them. However, unknown to Hidan, an ANBU captain had gone behind Hidan unnoticed, plunging his katana deep into Hidan's back, the katana going through the body cleanly and appearing in the front.

"We got him!" A Sand Chuunin cried.

"Die you bastard!" The ANBU captain said with malice.

Baki and the Sand ninjas around Hidan stood where they were, unable to believe that an S-rank ninja would be so easily attacked from his blind spot. Hidan remained silent, looking down to see the sharp blade protruding from behind. After that, Hidan began laughing. Every Sand ninjas stared in horror as Hidan continued laughing, as if he was not even injured.

"That hurts man…" Hidan exclaimed, "I'll kill you next!"

"What the hell…?" The ANBU captain muttered, hopping back but leaving his katana still logged in Hidan.

Hidan slowly pulled the katana out, inspecting it once it was pulled out, "How about I return this to you?"

The Jashin worshipper charged and released the katana aimed at the ANBU captain. Of course, he easily evaded the throw but Hidan was quick, appearing before him with his scythe raised high in the air. Just as Hidan was about to slice the ANBU in half, a wooden figure appeared at the nick of time, blocking the large scythe.

"The fuck?" Hidan realized it was some sort of puppet and despite being made of wood; Hidan could not overpower it and break the puppet.

By then, the ANBU captain backed away leaving the wooden puppet with Hidan. The Akatsuki immortal growled in frustration, swinging his scythe and connecting with the puppet, the wooden toy thrashing on the hard ground.

"Thank you, Kankuro." The ANBU captain said, landing next to the puppeteer prodigy of the Sand.

Kankuro summoned back Karasu to his side and with the arrival of one of the elite Jounin of the Sand, the Sand ninjas regrouped. Hidan glared at Kankuro in anger, his eyes never leaving the puppeteer. Baki immediately headed to Kankuro to inform him of what they know.

"To think that Akatsuki would strike so early…" Kankuro muttered.

"Be careful," Baki warned, "For some reason, he's still standing after we clearly stabbed him earlier from the back. It's almost as if he has high regeneration or something."

Kankuro smirked, "Well, this should be interesting."

"Don't get cocky!" Baki responded in anger, "We'll strike together! We can't afford to let Akatsuki escape now that we have them in the heart of the village."

"Where's Gaara anyway?" Kankuro asked, not finding his youngest brother anywhere.

"He trapped himself with another Akatsuki inside there." Baki answered, staring at the huge wall of sand.

Kankuro knew that technique. It was almost impossible to enter since if anything that touched the sand, a powerful suction force would prevent you from climbing. The only possible way to enter the 'arena' would be from above through the opening. Kankuro realized that Gaara had probably wanted to trap both Akatsuki members, but it seems that Hidan had got out before the walls could trap him along with his partner.

"Alright then," Kankuro resolved, "We'll take care of him. After that, we'll try to help Gaara."

The cheers from the fellow Sand ninjas told him that they agreed. Hidan merely smiled at their enthusiasm.

***Field, inside the box***

Kakuzu heard the cheers outside and a fight had definitely begun. Kakuzu knew without a doubt that his idiot partner had started a fight with the Sand ninjas. It was at this time that Kakuzu knew they wasted too much time now and brought too much attention. Even if Hidan was an immortal, if they somehow chopped off his head, he was useless.

Kakuzu focused back to Gaara who was still high in the air on his platform. He needed to capture him soon as things were beginning to get out of hand. The S-rank ninja grunted when another wave of sand forced him to roll to his right and then immediately jump into the air as the second wave of sand nearly smashed onto him.

'His skin makes my sand nearly useless in terms of attack and defense,' Gaara analyzed, 'so why bother dodging my attacks? Unless he cannot maintain that hard-skinned technique for long, so there are times when he's vulnerable…? I'll need to find out.'

Kakuzu dodged the next wave while at the same time thinking of how to get Gaara down. The red-haired ninja suddenly poured a huge amount of chakra, shaping one of the waves into a spear. Gaara aimed at Gaara then ordered the spear to strike, the sand-spear moving quickly. Kakuzu jumped back as the spear smashed deep into the ground.

Kakuzu landed on his feet smoothly close to the sand wall that Gaara brought up. With Kakuzu close to the wall, Gaara shaped some parts of the wall into blades. Kakuzu felt something sharp from behind but it was too late as the blades launched forward, scratching Kakuzu's right arm and a small cut to the left of his head.

Kakuzu rolled forward before any more blades could mortally wound him. Kakuzu inspected his minor wounds and Gaara also witnessed the small cuts. The 5th Kazekage of the Sand came to the conclusion that Kakuzu's defense was only activated when his skin changed and he needed to attack when Kakuzu was in his normal state.

Kakuzu could see Gaara was busy thinking and took this as his opportunity to strike. The treasurer of Akatsuki opened the palm of his hand and launched his hand towards Gaara, the threads connecting his hand to the arm flowing out. Gaara was caught by surprise as the detached hand grabbed Gaara by the neck.

"I've got you now!"

With no mercy, Kakuzu pulled Gaara from his platform. The Kazekage landed hard on the ground from twenty meters in the air. Kakuzu then dragged Gaara by the neck until his hand was attached back to his arm. Gaara gasped for air, trying to break free from the hold but even with both hands, he could not. Kakuzu was far stronger.

"This is the end…" Kakuzu stated, "You're good for a kid so young but you lack battle experience. Now, we'll extract the one-tails."

Kakuzu then turned his free arm into the hardened skin, his hand turning into the darker color. Gaara struggled but it was in vain. Once Kakuzu charged his punch to deliver the final blow, Gaara knew that the fight was all over between him and Kakuzu.

***Field, outside the box***

About seven Sand ninjas had already fallen to Kakuzu and three of them were of the ANBU. Kankuro grit his teeth, unable to comprehend the fact that Hidan had been stabbed multiple times by katanas, shurikens and kunais and not to mention Kankuro's puppets had poison but none of them seemed to work.

Hidan slashed the next ninja closest to him, laughing hysterically at the foolish ninjas that thought they could kill him. However, Hidan had his sights on Kankuro since he could tell that Kankuro was an important figure to the Sand village. The fact that their confidence grew when he arrived was a testament to that.

"Is this the best you all can do?" Hidan taunted, chuckling as the Sand ninjas around him looked on, demoralized, "You can't even kill me! Ah, come on puppeteer… Stop making your comrades die in your place… Step up and fight me…"

"Don't listen to him Kankuro!" Baki advised, "He's just provoking you. You're a long-range fighter and you know very well that if you face him alone, he'll easily close the gap!"

Kankuro knew that of course. It was obvious that Hidan was a melee fighter and extremely skilled in forcing long-range fighters to enter close-range combat. But if this continued, more Sand ninjas would fall to this dangerous man so in either case, it was almost a lose situation for whatever choice Kankuro decided.

"It doesn't matter!" Hidan cried out, charging forwards, "I want your head!"

Hidan had his scythe prepared to slice Kankuro in half when several ninjas threw a number of shurikens at Hidan. All of them hit dead on, some on his chest, the head and legs, blood seeping out of the wounds but Hidan simply laughed and continued to close the distance.

Kankuro ordered his puppet to attack, Karasu engaging Hidan. The puppet gave a large cut across Hidan's chest, the poison seeping into Hidan but the immortal Akatsuki simply cringed in pain but still continued sprinting towards Kankuro.

"You're mine!"

Hidan swung his large scythe, forcing Kankuro to back off but Hidan had successfully cut off Kankuro's chakra threads to his puppet. Hidan then burst forward, thrusting his scythe forward. Kankuro rolled sideways at the nick of time, seeing the large scythe barely cutting him.

When Hidan's scythe returned, he began chuckling before he laughed in an uproar. Kankuro grunted as he got up, only now realizing that he had a small cut to his left, close to the ribs. Hidan brought the scythe to his lips, licking the blood that was from Kankuro. Everyone hesitated to attack, not knowing what to do. The fact that all their attacks were futile was one reason as they were clueless on how to stop him.

"The requirements are complete!" Hidan exclaimed and his appearance immediately changed. Hidan's skin changed to black with white bone-like markings around his body, giving him the appearance likes that of a Grim Reaper.

"What the hell…?" Kankuro muttered.

With the blood he obtained, Hidan used the blood to draw a symbol on the ground and stepped on it. Hidan kept chuckling as he stared at Kankuro. In the eyes of Hidan, Kankuro was as good as dead. Nothing could stop him now and the only thing left for him to do, was to toy with the puppeteer.

"Let me show you… the meaning of pain!" Hidan cried out. The immortal Akatsuki then took out a retractable spear and stabbed the weapon into his shoulder.

"What the fuck?" Every Sound ninja cried out in shock. However, much to their horror, Kankuro also screamed in pain, a similar wound on him.

Kankuro groaned in pain, clutching his shoulder, "What's going on?"

Hidan laughed evilly, "Yes…! That's it! Beg for mercy!"

Hidan then plunged the spear into his right thigh, with the same thing occurring on Kankuro. The puppeteer dropped on the ground face-first, screaming in pain and crying out for help. A Sand Jounin was about to attack Hidan when Baki stopped him.

"Stop!" Baki ordered, "Whatever that monster did, it's affecting Kankuro also!"

"But he'll just continue stabbing himself!" The Sand ninja replied.

Baki clenched his fists in frustration while Hidan merely laughed at the Sand ninja's helplessness to help Kankuro. If this continued on, Kankuro would fall to Hidan. Baki dropped to his knees, the first time feeling useless.

***Field, inside the box***

Kakuzu held Gaara by the neck and was prepared to knock Gaara out with one punch with his hardened skin. It was all over between the veteran ninja and the young Kazekage. The difference in battle experience was one factor but the fact that Gaara's attacks could not damage Kakuzu was another.

"This is it…!" Kakuzu said and threw the punch.

Before the punch could connect, Kakuzu stopped suddenly. Kakuzu coughed out blood, some of the red liquid splattering on Gaara's torso. The treasurer of Akatsuki looked down to find a large sand-shaped spear and pierced him from behind, right through where his heart should be.

"How…?" Kakuzu groaned out, blood seeping out of his mouth.

"You let your guard down…" Gaara replied as Kakuzu finally released the red-haired ninja, "Although it's true that nothing can pierce through when you harden your skin, but you only do that when defending or attacking."

Kakuzu dropped on his knees, coughing out more blood and looking at Gaara in the eye. He was impressed that Gaara had found the clue to his hardened skin and used it to his advantage. That was the key to defeating him and Kakuzu paid it with the cost of his life.

"You lose, Akatsuki! As the Kazekage of the Sand village, I'll never let you harm the village!"

***Field, outside the box***

Kankuro was bleeding badly and could not move as his legs were badly injured and his comrades could do nothing. Hidan was enjoying himself when the wall of sand that Gaara created began to sink back into the ground. Everyone turned around, knowing that the fight between Gaara and Kakuzu must have ended.

Hidan grinned, "Well, looks like we're done here! I'll just finish you off first!"

Hidan placed the spear at where his heart should be and smiled as Kankuro watched in horror. Every Sound ninja screamed at Hidan to stop but they could do nothing. With no one to stop him, Hidan prepared to plunge the spear into his heart.

Kankuro closed his eyes, feeling death approaching.

.


	62. Tragedy in Suna

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter! Sorry for the delay and I will also apologize as this is a very short chapter. Hope you will enjoy this and do leave a review on your thoughts :D  
Next chapter, "An ally reacts"**

**CHAPTER 62: TRAGEDY IN SUNA **

It was a relief to the Sand ninjas to know that their Kazekage had emerged victorious against his duel with an Akatsuki member. As the large wall of sand finally collapsed back to the earth, Gaara was on his knees trying to regain his breath after being choked by Kakuzu.

Gaara focused on his surroundings. There were a number of Sand ninjas gathered around; most of them cheering at his victory over Kakuzu while another group was still caught up in a battle. It was at that moment that Gaara spotted his brother, Kankuro on the ground and the partner of Kakuzu towering over him, wielding a spear in one hand.

"Kankuro!" Gaara yelled out, summoning forth sand to intercept Hidan from delivering the killing blow on his brother.

Hidan was surprised that his partner was defeated. When the wave of sand approached him, he was prepared to take the hit but Gaara's sand instead hovered above Kankuro, protecting Hidan from delivering the killing blow.

Hidan laughed with glee, "You idiot! It doesn't matter if you protect him! He's not my target!"

Gaara stood there, confused at what Hidan meant when an ANBU captain cried out, "Kazekage-sama! It seems that any attacks we do on Hidan, the injuries will be inflicted on Kankuro as well! So if that bastard stabs himself…"

"Kankuro will suffer the same…?" Gaara finished, immediately realizing his fatal mistake.

"Too late!" Hidan exclaimed, finally moving the spear to stab his heart.

Gaara attempted to stop Hidan by wrapping sand around Hidan's arms to stop the Akatsuki from delivering the killing blow. However, it was obvious Gaara would not make it. Just as Hidan's spear was an inch away from his heart, a powerful gust of wind blasted from nowhere, throwing Hidan off his feet.

"What the fuck…?" Hidan cried out, landing on his feet. The gust of wind merely pushed Hidan away but it dealt no pain so Kankuro was still secure.

Gaara and the Sand Jounins witnessed reinforcements had arrived by then. Hajime Himura landed with at least three ANBU squads as the nine ANBU ninjas immediately engaged Hidan while at the same time careful not to deliver any tragic wound on Hindan. They were simply buying time until they could figure out their next move.

"Kankuro, are you alright?" Himura asked as she inspected the wounds of her student.

Kankuro groaned in pain, "I'm okay."

"That was reckless of you!" Baki admonished, "If you had done something wrong, Kankuro would have paid the price!"

"You fail to analyze the situation yourself!" Himura retorted, "I know we can't land any vital blows on that bastard since the result will be the same on Kankuro! If that is the case, then just bind him since Kankuro will be safe! What I did was simply push him away to buy us time!"

Baki kept his mouth shut as what Himura said made sense. Injuring Hidan would mean the same to Kankuro but if they could bind Hidan, Kankuro would be safe. What Himura did earlier was simply stop Hidan from striking himself, hence saving Kankuro's life.

Despite Hidan skilled as a ninja, challenging up to nine ANBU's were too much and although unintentionally, an ANBU ninja gave a small cut on Hidan's left shoulder with his katana. Kankuro waited for the pain to come but it never arrived. This was immediately noticed by everyone in the vicinity.

"Kankuro's okay!" Baki observed, "Whatever that technique that guy used, and it had been disabled! Everyone, attack!"

Hidan cursed as a large swarm of Sand ninjas and ANBU ninjas all jumped at him. He had not expected them to figure out that his bind with Kankuro had been stopped the moment he stepped out of the sacrificial circle. Still, they could not kill him so he just needed to buy some time.

"We still can't kill him…" Baki stated as he watched the Sand ninjas landing crucial blows but none of them killing the remaining Akatsuki member.

"What do you mean…?" Gaara questioned.

"All our attacks can't kill him," Kankuro answered as medical ninjas treated him, "It's almost as if he's an immortal. No matter how many times we stab him, he just laughs and keeps on fighting."

"That is why we just have to bind him…" Himura pointed out, "Gaara… I'm sure that you can easily hold him down with the Sand Coffin. After that, we'll figure out how to take him out."

Although Gaara was a little spent from his earlier fight, it was a simple task. He could see that Hidan was struggling to keep the Sand ninjas at bay as they swarmed him. If it weren't for his ability to stay alive, Hidan would have been dead by now.

Hidan felt another blade entering him from behind. Although he could feel the pain, he simply laughed and spun around with his scythe, slashing a few ninjas and wounding them badly. An ANBU captain stepped up, delivering attacks that forced Hidan to back off. The immortal Akatsuki laughed when he finally found an opening and prepared to attack when he felt something gripping his legs.

"What the…?" Hidan exclaimed in confusion.

Hidan's legs were gripped with sand and the sand slowly began climbing, enveloping Hidan's knees now. Hidan attempted to jump away but the sand was far too powerful. He looked around his surroundings and saw Gaara with his palm open. He gritted his teeth in anger, realizing he had been too careless and Gaara found an opening to stop him.

"Great job, Kazekage-sama!" The Sand ninjas cheered in victory.

The sand had now completely covered Hidan's lower body. The immortal Akatsuki growled in anger, swinging his scythe wildly around him in an attempt to somehow destroy the sand but it was futile. Gaara prepared to finish the technique, making sure to completely bind Hidan in his coffin.

Hidan then suddenly stopped struggling and smiled, "It took you long enough…"

Everyone around Hidan wondered what he meant when a scream was heard. Every Sand ninjas turned back to find Gaara on the ground, coughing out blood and holding his back. Gaara's gourd had been broken in half. To everyone's surprise, Kakuzu was standing tall, still alive and well although there was a visible hole from the killing blow he received earlier from Gaara.

"How…?" Kankuro muttered, "Gaara killed you!"

Kankuro then realized that Kakuzu was not alone. Kakuzu had four dark-like figures by his sides and they wore masks with different colors. They almost looked like monsters and had threads connected to Kakuzu. Whatever the monsters were, Kankuro realized that they were now in serious trouble.

"Finally…" Hidan stated as the sand around him dropped back to the ground. Because Gaara had been taken out, the Sand Coffin technique had been dispelled.

"I can't believe the brat actually took one of your hearts out." Hidan said, laughing.

"Shut up…" Kakuzu replied, glaring at Gaara trembling in pain, "I underestimated him. But, it's time we end the mission."

"The hell…?" Baki said through gritted teeth, "One can't die and the other just wakes up from the dead! Everyone, protect the Kazekage!"

Every available Sand ninjas immediately obeyed, some attacking Hidan or Kakuzu while the others covered the injured Gaara. As a large number of Sand ninjas neared Kakuzu, the Akatsuki treasurer formed a simple seal. Immediately, two of the blacked monsters opened their mouths.

One of them fired a large fireball while the second monster shot out a beam of lightning. All Sand ninjas that attacked Kakuzu were finished off in an instant and Kakuzu made his move to capture the Sand's Kazekage. It was chaos as every Sand ninjas panicked to stop the two Akatsuki monsters from capturing their Kazekage.

"I… can't… move…" Gaara cried out in pain, struggling to get up.

"His back's broken!" Baki yelled out, "Get the Kazekage out of here!"

As two ANBU ninjas were about to pick up the Kazekage, a beam of lightning shot through their bodies, killing them. Gaara cursed softly, watching Kakuzu landing approaching and seeing the numerous ninjas dying just to protect him. When Kakuzu had finally reached him, his teacher stepped up to protect him.

"You'll get him over my dead body!" Himura declared, her large fan drawn out for battle.

Kakuzu shook his head, "I don't have time for this…"

Himura stepped forward, throwing a powerful gust of wind at Kakuzu. Before it could come into contact, Kakuzu hardened his skin, the cuts not even wounding him. Himura prepared her next technique when one black figure appeared from behind, blasting a blast of water. Himura leaped forward to avoid the attack and Kakuzu took the opportunity. He closed the gap and landed a punch right at Himura's stomach, his hand still hardened.

Himura felt the blow and everything went dark after that. Kakuzu returned his skin to normal, Himura's body dropping down face first, unconscious. Gaara tried to crawl away to safety but Kakuzu had reached him. As a last attempt, Gaara shaped the sand around him as shurikens and ordered them to attack Kakuzu. The treasurer of Akatsuki merely hardened his skin, the shuriken doing nothing.

"This is it for you, Kazekage." Kakuzu stated, hardening his hand.

With no available ninjas around, Kakuzu threw the punch right at Gaara's stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of Gaara, knocking him out almost immediately. Kakuzu then picked Gaara up and placed him on his shoulder. The four dark-like figures arrived at Kakuzu's side.

"Kazekage-sama!" Every Sound ninjas called out, going to try and rescue their fallen Kazekage but the monsters easily annihilated them.

"Gaara!" Kankuro screamed, trying to move but his injuries from earlier prevented him from doing anything.

Then, someone landed right in front of Kankuro. The puppeteer looked up to find Hidan glaring down at him with an evil smile, his scythe on his shoulder. Kankuro felt fear once more, realizing that most of the Sand ninjas had already fallen to the Akatsuki duo.

"What are you doing?" Kakuzu spoke out, "Let's go!"

"You go on ahead!" Hidan responded, never leaving his eyes off Kankuro, "I've got business with this guy!"

Kakuzu stood for a moment before he jumped on a roof and made his way towards the gate of the village to escape. Several ANBU ninjas gave chase immediately but Kakuzu's dark-like figures immediately destroyed any ninjas that dared to chase him.

"You shall die, now…" Hidan taunted, his scythe raised.

Kankuro thought he would see his life flash before him as Hidan's scythe was about to deliver the killing blow. Out of nowhere, another arrived at the nick of time, taking the blow for Kankuro. Hidan seemed surprise by the person but simply smiled as the blood splattered across his face, his scythe dripping with blood.

"Well… I guess you're an important figure to the Sand as well. I'll settle with your death!" Hidan stated out, watching the figure drop down on the ground, a large open wound on the chest.

"BAKI!" Kankuro called out, watching the senior Sand ninja on the ground, breathing heavily and blood seeping out of his mouth and his wound.

Hidan chuckled, "Consider you lucky boy!" With that, Hidan jumped to a nearby roof and followed his team mate's footsteps.

"BAKI!" Kankuro screamed, shaking Baki in hopes to revive him.

Soon, several ninjas appeared at the scene, unable to believe a large number of Sand ninjas injured or even dead. Medical ninjas immediately tended to the wounded, healing them. One of them approached Baki, reaching for a pulse. The medical ninja simply shook his head after a couple of seconds. The advisor of the Sand village, an important figure and elite Jounin of the Sand, had fallen.

Himura herself was being treated and being brought to the hospital. Kankuro looked around him, unable to believe what had just happened in his home village. To think that two S-rank criminals had easily infiltrated the village, captured their Kazekage and to top it off killed a large number of ninjas, some of them even of the ANBU.

"This can't be happening…" Kankuro muttered in disbelief.


	63. An Ally Reacts

**Hei guys, here's the new update. It's not as long as I hoped but this is it! Leave a review with your thoughts on the current chapter! It'll help me :D  
Next chapter, "The journey to Suna"**

**CHAPTER 63: AN ALLY REACTS **

It had been a day since team seven had officially passed the bell test. To top it off, the three members of team seven had gone against two of the strongest Jounins in Konoha, not to mention that they were even more powerful if combined. With the test over, it was now secure for team seven to officially take on missions.

Uzumaki Naruto got up from his slumber at nine in the morning, still pretty drained from the test but he had to report at the Hokage tower in an hour. As Naruto got up from his bed, he realized he had not really checked his apartment. Last night, he just got back and immediately went to sleep.

There were not many changes to his apartment, perhaps a little dusty in some areas but overall, everything was where it should be. Naruto proceeded to take a quick shower to prepare him for the day. After a couple of minutes, Naruto stepped out of the shower and dried himself. After that, Naruto prepared himself a quick Ramen cup for his breakfast.

"Alright, time to meet up with the others." Naruto said to himself as he quickly devoured his breakfast.

As usual, Maki had informed them last night that they were to meet up at the usual place, close to the hot springs. The young blonde grinned mischievously; planning to do some peeping if he arrived as the earliest among his team mates. Then again, the thought of Sakura discovering him doing so would result in hell after what he had witnessed her strength last night in their training.

As the young blonde ninja walked the streets of Konoha, he had to admit that it was a nice pace compared to his training with Jiraiya for two years. Normally, they would not stay in a city or town for more than two days before they left. It was definitely good to be home once more.

"Oh? Naruto! When did you come back?" A voice called out, stopping the young ninja in his tracks.

"Eh?" Naruto wondered who the man was before his eyes recognized the man, "Old man Teuchi? What're you doing here?"

Teuchi grinned, "Yeah, it has been a long time Naruto! I'm just shopping for some extra ingredients while Ayame takes care of the shop. So Naruto, when did you return?"

Naruto scratched his head while giving a broad smile, "I just got back yesterday! Oh man, I need to eat your delicious Ramen later! It has been so long since I've tasted good Ramen."

Teuchi laughed loudly, giving a hard pat on Naruto's back, "Well, since you're my number one customer, I'll let you have a free Ramen just for today!"

"You mean it?!"

"Of course!" Teuchi replied, grinning, "Anyway, I need to get back to my shopping! I'll see you later Naruto!"

Naruto waved goodbye to the old man as the two went their separate ways. Naruto had to admit, the old man had not changed much in the two year period from what he remembered. The blonde ninja then continued his way towards his team meeting spot.

When he arrived, he found Sakura was already waiting there. Surprisingly, Sasuke was not present which was rare since he was the most disciplined among the three in team seven. Sakura saw Naruto approaching and waved at him. Naruto smiled and returned the wave, walking towards her.

"Good morning, Naruto!" Sakura greeted with a smile.

"Morning… Where's Sasuke?"

Sakura shrugged, "Not here yet I guess."

"I remember him being one of the earliest among us."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the statement, "Unfortunately, Sasuke has been picking up some bad habits from Kakashi-sensei. One of them is him being a little late than he usually is."

As that exact moment, Uchiha Sasuke made his appearance, landing on his feet from a nearby roof.

"Hm…" Sasuke muttered out as a greeting.

Above in the air, Sasuke noticed a hawk soaring in the air quickly. Even without using his Sharingan, Sasuke could tell that the hawk was one of the Suna's messengers. As a matter of fact, it was the fastest so the Uchiha wondered why Suna used it. Was there something urgent that Suna needed to send to Konoha?

"You're late… Heh, since when did the almighty Uchiha lack some disciplines?" Naruto taunted, giving a smirk.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in response, "Whatever, dobe… I can't be on time every time we have a meeting. Compared to you, I have a much better record."

Naruto scoffed in return, "Sure, bring up the past eh?"

Sakura cracked her knuckles as the two male ninjas of team seven began their usual argument. The pink haired Chuunin had several veins popped by then as the two continued on insulting one another before they realized the tremendous killing intent growing from the girl.

"Do I have to keep the two of you in line…?" Sakura asked menacingly, prepared to pick up her gloves now.

Sasuke and Naruto immediately stopped, fear enveloping them. Naruto and Sasuke gave one last glare between the two before they stopped. Team seven waited at their meeting spot for another five minutes before Naruto's impatience got the best of him.

"Where is Maki-sensei?!" Naruto whined, pacing back and forth, "I wanna take on some missions now!"

As if on cue, Maki appeared along with Kakashi.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to find Kakashi first before we met up." Maki explained.

"What's Kakashi-sensei doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Because team seven now have two of you that are wanted by Akatsuki or Orochimaru, the council has assigned Kakashi to be part of the team." Maki answered.

"A five-man team? Won't the team be easily spotted and slower when it comes to moving?" Sakura pointed out.

Kakashi joined in now, "We have no choice. If Maki was assigned alone, it would be too risky and so, I've been assigned to assist if anything were to happen."

"It makes sense anyway." Sasuke said, agreeing with what Kakashi said.

"Anyway come on," Maki instructed, "We'll have to collect our mission from the Hokage."

Naruto would have to get used to the idea of a five-man team now. The fact that Kakashi was now added to the team, he wondered if it would make much difference. After all, Kakashi had once lost to Itachi and Maki barely fought off Kisame. Then again, Akatsuki only consisted of two members and now that Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had improved, it should be alright.

"Don't worry Naruto," Sakura assured, walking next to him, "We won't let Akatsuki get you… just because you have that inside you."

Naruto almost froze when he heard that. Sasuke then added in, "It's okay Naruto. We know about it."

"How…? When…? Wha…?"

"They found out some time ago Naruto," Maki clarified, "But don't worry. Just like what I told you when you found out about the Kyuubi, they see you as a person. Not a monster."

"Just because everyone in the village hated you for it," Kakashi added in, "Does not mean that everyone thinks so. They see you for who you are. You're the container of the nine-tails, not the nine-tails itself."

Naruto was silent for a moment before he whispered, "Thanks…"

Sakura held Naruto's hand to comfort him and Naruto gladly accepted it. Sasuke simply sighed, not into the whole friendship thing but he would be there if Naruto needed it. His whole desire for revenge changed ever since he became a part of team seven so it was only right for him to protect those important to him.

The Hokage tower was busy as usual with the administration staff busy resolving problems the citizens of Konoha had. Several ninjas were also heading towards the mission hall to receive their mission. The only reason why team seven was getting a mission directly from the Hokage was because the council wanted to observe Naruto and Sasuke.

Maki knocked on the door before he entered the office of the Hokage. Tsunade was as usual, busy with the large amount of paperwork.

"We're here to report for a mission, Hokage-sama!" Maki introduced.

"Maki… Kakashi…" Tsunade sighed in relief, taking a break from her work, "So soon for a mission?"

"You're the one who said to come early for a mission." Kakashi responded.

Tsunade chuckled in response, "I'm just joking." Tsunade looked at the three young ninjas, "Alright, with the capabilities I've seen from you three, you're all mostly going to take on A-rank and even S-rank missions."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, "Finally some missions that suits me!"

Tsunade chuckled, "I see you're still the same energetic boy. I guess some things never change."

"Still the idiot too." Sasuke added, smirking.

Tsunade smiled and began browsing through the A-rank missions. Of course in the background, she could hear Sasuke and Naruto bickering with one another until Sakura came into the picture. The scene almost reminded her of the time when she and Jiraiya were kids.

"Alright, I think this mission should be just right for you." Tsunade said, reading through the document, "Team seven, this will be an A-rank mission. The mission requires you to travel…"

Before Tsunade could even elaborate any further, Shizune burst into the room. The sudden entrance surprised Tsunade and stopped her from reading the mission any further. Kakashi noticed that Shizune was out of breath, as if she had just came from somewhere in a hurry.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune began, panting, "We have a problem!"

"What is it Shizune?"

"Akatsuki…" Shizune breathed out, "Akatsuki have Gaara, the Kazekage of the Sand village!"

Everyone in the room immediately drew their attention to Shizune, especially Naruto. Tsunade herself was shocked by the news and dropped the document she was reading to team seven. Finally, Tsunade regained her sense of the situation.

"Continue with what you know…"

Shizune nodded, "We just received a message from a hawk messenger of Suna. The report said that two members of Akatsuki attacked in the night and although Gaara and a number of ANBU and other ninjas fought back, they succeeded in capturing Gaara. They request Konoha's assistance in retrieving back the Kazekage and if possible, eliminate the Akatsuki."

'So the hawk I saw earlier was from Suna…' Sasuke thought.

"Any information given about the Akatsuki's abilities?" Tsunade asked.

Shizune shook her head, "No, the message was short and quick. I assume they'll give the ninjas we send all the information they have." Shizune stopped for a moment and then continued, "Tsunade-sama, what are your orders?"

Tsunade shut her eyes and began thinking of the best situation. She had not expected the Akatsuki to strike so quickly. Not to mention that most of the elite Jounins that would be able to stand up to Akatsuki were away on a mission. She would send Jiraiya but his information gathering was vital to know more about Akatsuki so Jiraiya was not an option. The 5th Hokage then knew there was only one choice, although the risks were high.

***Desert, Suna territory***

Both Hidan and Kakuzu were able to escape the Sand village with relative ease. It was obvious that the chaos they had created in the village forced the Sand village to restore order first before they could even give chase to the Akatsuki duo. Hidan and Kakuzu were now home free until they reach one of Akatsuki's secret hide out to commence the removal of the one-tailed sealed within Gaara.

Kakuzu was still carrying the unconscious Gaara and he had his four remaining hearts back in his body. The fact that Gaara had managed to destroy the heart containing the Wind element was impressive. Technically, Kakuzu had died in his fight but Gaara had let his guard down.

"I still can't believe you lost a heart!" Hidan said, laughing after he said it.

"How about I replace the heart I lost with yours?" Kakuzu remarked.

Hidan chuckled, "Alright, I'll drop it. So, what's our next move? This heat is fucking killing me!"

Kakuzu looked at Hidan, "You have no idea what's our next move? How the hell are you even in Akatsuki?"

Hidan shrugged, "Hei, I never got the details. I joined, got immediately partnered with you and that was pretty much it! Now, care to enlighten me?"

"We're going to extract the one-tails from him," Kakuzu explained, referring to Gaara, "The extraction will take at least three or even four days with all of the Akatsuki. During the extraction, none of us can break out of it or we'll have to start over, so we'll be vulnerable during the process."

Hidan thought for a moment, "So those guys we met…?"

Kakuzu nodded, "They'll be covering us in case the Sand decides to commence a counter-attack." Kakuzu paused for a moment, "Although frankly, I don't like those 'Reapers.' I hate them as much as I despise you."

Hidan narrowed his eyes, "I'd so love to slice you in half."

"Go ahead and try…" Kakuzu replied calmly.

Before Hidan could even do anything, three figures were seen in the distance. Kakuzu and Hidan immediately recognized them as the three 'Reapers' that were assigned to cover them during the extraction process. Kakuzu was not pleased that they had come to meet them. The plan was to only meet up at the hide-out.

"What are you doing here?" Kakuzu questioned when they were close, his voice not pleased at all.

"We thought you guys needed help." The former leaf ninja, Yamui answered, "After all, you failed against killing a kage once in the past."

Kakuzu gave a death glare at the young ninja, "You better watch your tongue, boy…"

"Yamui, we're not here to pick a fight." The leader of the trio admonished the youngster. He then turned towards Kakuzu, bowing slightly, "But we just thought you might have needed some cover."

Kakuzu stood silent for a moment before he walked past the leader, "I like your attitude, Kizaki… You should instill that sort of attitude to your subordinates."

"My apologies…" Kizaki responded.

Hidan smirked at the bowing Kizaki as the two Akatsuki members continued on walking. The three 'Reapers' followed suit, Yamui's killing intent clearly obvious but he dared not attack any of the S-rank criminals. After all, Yamui was only a mere Jounin when he left Konoha so he stood no chance going against either of the Akatsuki members.

"Please stop trying to cause trouble." Kizaki advised, sighing heavily.

"I'm sorry but those guys… think just because they're so strong they don't need our help? We're assigned as their support but they treat us like…" Yamui ranted and then stopped, unable to finish his sentence.

"Even if it's true, they're part of the Reapers ambitions," Kizaki said, "We all have to do our part. With the Akatsuki, we can achieve our objectives."

Yamui huffed in response but Kizaki knew that was Yamui's method of agreeing to whatever it was. Kizaki had to admit he had not liked the idea of partnering with another organization but the Akatsuki had some of the most frightening ninjas in the group.

The third member of the Reapers, Takyu, remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. He never was one to speak much and he cared not for the Akatsuki. All he cared was the destruction of his home village and if it meant to be partnered up with another group of organization, so be it.

Kakuzu and Hidan took a quick glimpse behind them to make sure the Reapers were following. The treasurer of Akatsuki for one trusted no one but himself but if his job required him to partner with others, he would do so. Besides, he felt the Reapers were insignificant compared to him and Hidan so even if they wanted a fight, they would be easily dealt with.

Gaara was still unconscious, easily carried by Kakuzu. Even if Gaara were to regain consciousness, he could escape since his back was broken. It would take some time for medical ninjas to restore him so Gaara had no chance to escape from his kidnappers.

"Now I can finally start doing some bounties after the extraction…" Kakuzu said, delighted with finishing his task.

"Hoi hoi, don't forget that my task is the two-tails. You're going to accompany on that, you bastard!" Hidan reminded, not pleased with having to accompany Kakuzu on bounty hunts.

"We'll pick some bounties on the way…" Kakuzu responded.

Hidan growled in annoyance, "What a prick…"

***Sand village***

The village of the Sand was basically in panic. Although the council would have preferred to keep the truth hidden, it was impossible to hide the fact that their Kazekage had been abducted. Not to mention they had to inform the families of the ninjas that lost their lives to the Akatsuki.

Not to mention that Baki had fallen as he would have been the perfect candidate to maintain control in the absence of the Kazekage. With Baki out of the picture, a senior council member had taken up the position to try and maintain order in the village.

"Where is Chiyo-sama?" One of the council members questioned, "She would be suitable to take the temporary role of Kazekage!"

"She refuses to be involved." Another council member replied, "We will have to maintain the Sand to the best of our abilities…"

"Damn it!"

Hajime Himura and a group of ANBU was busy trying to suppress a riot from breaking out. A group of villagers were outraged at the Sand's failure to prevent their Kazekage from being captured and also the failure to capture the monsters that killed their family member during the night.

"First the 3rd Kazekage was captured, then the 4th was actually murdered and now the 5th?! What the hell are you all doing?!" A villager cried out.

"And what about my sister?!" Another villager yelled out in anger, "She died protecting the Kazekage and still the Kazekage was captured? How can this happen?! Is the village just filled with incapable ninjas?!"

The villagers continued demanding answers but none could provide them with one. As the villagers frustration increased, they also got more violent, beginning to throw rocks at the ANBU and at Himura. At one point, one of the rocks hit the ANBU by the head, angering him. The ANBU drew out his katana by this point.

"Stop!" Himura ordered, "We're assigned to protect the villagers, not harm them! You better know your position!"

An ANBU captain stepped in by this point, "What are you doing?! How dare you draw your weapon! Sheath it back in at once!"

The ANBU apologized for his errors in shame, sheathing his weapon. The villagers calmed down a little at the display, the fact that despite hurting their fellow ninjas, they were still loyal to protect them. The villagers stopped their anger for now, but it was clear they were still unsatisfied.

"What's the current status of the tracking squad?" Himura asked the ANBU captain.

"So far nothing…" The ANBU captain replied sadly, "They haven't found the Akatsuki yet but they have found some of their tracks. Hopefully we'll hear from them soon."

Himura nodded, "I hope we get some results soon… With Baki dead and Gaara gone… well…"

The ANBU captain sighed, "For now, we'll just have to focus at the current situation. We have already requested aid from Konoha so hopefully they'll provide with some backup."

"Konoha eh…" Himura smiled, "Let's hope so… We're going to need all the help we can get…"

***Konoha, Hokage's tower***

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked after Tsunade had been silent for quite some time.

After contemplating for some time, Tsunade had made her choice. The council might be outraged at her decision but she felt it would be the best. After all, Naruto would face them sooner and if they could eliminate two of them now, the threat of Akatsuki would be reduced by a little.

"Team seven!" Tsunade barked out, "You'll be receiving a new mission! You're all to travel to Suna and assist the Sand in retrieving the Kazekage with any means necessary!"

"You got it, old hag!" Naruto immediately replied, "We'll leave immediately!"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune protested, "What are you doing? It's Akatsuki we're talking about here! Naruto is one of the targets so sending him is…"

"Shizune!" Tsunade spoke out, "Have faith in Naruto. I've already seen what he can do… Besides… He won't die so easily… Not until he becomes Hokage!"

Maki nodded in understanding, "Alright then. Prepare all the equipment's that you'll need for the mission. We meet at the gates in an hour and leave immediately!"

Naruto burst out of the office instantly, not wishing to waste any more time. Sakura bowed in respect to her master and followed suit. Sasuke sighed and simply walked out of the office calmly although deep down, he was excited at the prospect of going against other S-rank criminals. It would be the perfect opportunity to test his improved skills.

Kakashi turned towards Maki, "Hopefully the Sand will have some information on the Akatsuki's abilities when we arrive. We need every advantage we can get."

Maki nodded and then turned towards Tsunade, "We'll be leaving now."

Tsunade nodded, "Good luck! I'll send for reinforcements the moment I get the ninjas that can back you up."

Maki and Kakashi bowed and left the office. Tsunade sighed and took out her hidden Sake bottle that she kept in the drawer. Shizune was silent the whole time, hoping that her master's decision to send team seven on such a dangerous mission was a wise decision.

"Tsunade-sama… Are you sure this'll be okay?" Shizune asked with a worried tone.

Tsunade grinned after she took a big gulp of sake, "Don't worry. I trust them. What about you, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya smiled outside the Hokage's office window, "Yeah… They'll do fine… Although I'll go ahead and speak with Kakashi and Maki before they leave."

Tsunade nodded as Jiraiya disappeared in a puff of smoke. She would just have to put her faith on the capabilities of team seven going against the Akatsuki.


	64. Journey to Suna

**Alright guys, here's the new chapter! I apologize as it is also still quite short than my usual length but well… once the battle begins, it's going to be long :D  
Thanks to all my readers who still read and a special thank you to those who review. It really motivates me to write : )  
Next chapter, "Situation in Suna"**

**CHAPTER 64: THE JOURNEY TO SUNA**

It had taken some time for Haruno Maki to process the information. The pink haired Jounin had not expected news of the Kazekage of the Sand to have been captured by the Akatsuki. As a matter of fact, he had not expected the Akatsuki to strike so soon.

Maki had picked up several more of his clone kunai before he left for the gates. Although he had informed the team to meet up in an hour, he hoped they would arrive sooner. It would be at least a two day journey to the Sand village and that was assuming they travelled quickly with no rest in between. So in a logical sense, it would take at least three days before they arrived in Suna.

At the gates, Kakashi was already waiting and Maki was surprised to find the Toad Sannin with him.

"Jiraiya-sama… What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here to see you off." Jiraiya answered, "And to let you guys know some extra information that will be useful."

Kakashi and Maki listened in as Jiraiya began, "Well to be honest, I need one of you to watch over Naruto. At one time during the two-year journey, I was able to force Naruto to use the nine-tails chakra. Unfortunately, it got the best of him and Naruto lost all self-control and was cloaked with the nine-tails chakra. At this stage, Naruto becomes dangerous. He will attack anyone near him with devastating attacks, friend or foe."

Jiraiya stopped for a moment and revealed his chest, a large wound revealed, "I received this from Naruto… In order to stop his rampage, I placed a suppression seal on him. It was enough to absorb the nine-tails chakra and the seal brought Naruto to unconsciousness. When he awoke, he remembered nothing of the event."

Jiraiya took out a small piece of paper with the word 'seal' on it and handed it to Kakashi, "If Naruto somehow loses control, I want you to use this to suppress his chakra. It's the only way to return him to normal."

Jiraiya then turned towards Maki, "I want you to cover Kakashi in suppressing Naruto. It'll make it much easier for Kakashi since you have the chakra to create numerous clones."

Maki and Kakashi nodded in understanding. Jiraiya sighed and advised them on one final matter, "I have no clue about the two Akatsuki you will be facing but I do know that it is not Itachi and Kisame nor is it Sasori and his partner. Be careful when facing whoever these two members are. Do not underestimate them."

Kakashi and Maki nodded once more and Jiraiya felt he had told them everything he wanted to tell the two elite Jounins. He was about to leave when he spotted Naruto arriving with his two team mates. He felt he should at least give his goodbyes to the son of his late student. After all, he was the godfather of Naruto.

"Eh, perverted Sannin? Are you coming with us?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya simply ruffled the blonde boy's hair in response, "Nah, I got other stuff to do. You be careful Naruto! Don't be reckless alright? Listen to your teacher; they will know what to do."

"Heh, don't worry… I'm not that dumb." Naruto replied.

"Just be careful…" Jiraiya warned once more, "We're talking about Akatsuki here. I know you've trained a lot but don't overestimate your skills."

"I know, I know…" Naruto sighed, "Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

Jiraiya smiled and then gave one look towards Maki and Kakashi. The legendary Sannin placed the care of Naruto in the two Jounins hands. With that, he ruffled Naruto's hair one last time before he left them; leaving through the main gates to gather whatever information he could for Konoha.

Naruto watched his master of two years disappear from sight. The young blonde ninja was growing much more anxious as he waited for his two team mates before they could leave for Suna. Gaara was a friend to him, a friend that was the same as him; a Jinchuuriki. He needed to hurry and rescue him before Akatsuki did anything to him.

A minute later, Sasuke and Sakura appeared in the distance, chakra sprinting towards them as quickly as possible. Naruto was glad that they had arrived. Now they could leave immediately for Suna.

"Alright, looks like everyone's here." Maki stated.

"Hurry up!" Naruto called, already out the gates and jumping on a tree branch, "Let's go!"

The rest of team seven wasted no time, joining the blonde ninja as they all leaped towards the nearest tree branch and began jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Naruto was way ahead of them and it forced most of them to enhance their speed, focusing chakra to their feet.

"Hoi, Naruto!" Sasuke called out when he was finally close to Naruto, "I know you want to get to Suna quickly, but burning chakra to do it is…"

"Shut up!" Naruto replied angrily, surprising Sasuke, "Gaara's in trouble and it takes two days at least to reach Suna! We have to hurry!"

"What Sasuke says is right Naruto!" Maki pointed out harshly, "Stop letting your emotions gets the better of you!"

'Naruto…' Sakura thought helplessly.

Naruto clenched his fists in anger, "I know… I know that… But I just can't help but think… Gaara has suffered so much more compared to me in the past… He did not know of friendship until we met… We're the same and yet his past is darker compared to me. Now, he is the first to suffer the grasp of Akatsuki and I want to help him!"

Everyone of team seven remained silent as Naruto gave his reason to be angry. Kakashi sighed as he refused to say anything. After all, the copy ninja felt that it was his fault that Obito had died. If he had been friends with him instead of shoving hi away, followed Obito to rescue Rin, perhaps he would still be alive. So now he knew how Naruto felt; the desire to save a friend.

"Don't worry about it Sasuke." Maki said, "He'll calm down."

Sasuke glared at Maki, "You know I don't need you trying to explain about Naruto's behavior."

Maki simply gave a smile and the whole of team seven continued chakra sprinting through the forest, their destination Suna. For the most part of the journey, Kakashi planned in his head what their main priorities were once they arrived in Suna. For one, they would need to know of the current situation and the location of Gaara. Also, they would need to know every little bit of information they had on the two Akatsuki that attacked Suna so that they had an idea of their abilities. This was especially important to Kakashi.

A couple of hours had passed since team seven left Konoha. Naruto refused to stop and rest as they passed by small towns and although all of team seven had the stamina, Maki knew this would end up badly if they continued on without resting. The pink haired Jounin was about to call for a quick stop when they spotted two familiar people walking by the road.

"Shikamaru! Temari!" Sakura called out.

Naruto had not noticed them and looked down to find Sakura was right. Shikamaru and Temari were surprised and looked up to find all of team seven on tree branches. Shikamaru simply had a bored look on his face but he was curious as to what Naruto and the rest were doing here.

"Where are you guys headed?" Sakura asked, landing in front of Temari.

"I'm heading back to Suna," Temari replied, "I had to visit Konoha for a few days since I'm one of the instructors for the upcoming Chuunin exam. And this lazy bum over here is one of the representatives for Konoha so he has to do his business in Suna as well."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Troublesome…"

"What about you guys?" Temari asked, "Where're you guys going?"

Naruto looked away for a moment, feeling the sadness and anger at his friend's current predicament. Temari and Shikamaru immediately picked up that something was wrong and looked at Naruto's team mates. Sasuke and Sakura refused to say anything as they felt the mission was classified. Maki turned towards Kakashi and the copy ninja merely nodded.

"Since you're the sister of Gaara, I think it you deserve to know…" Maki spoke out, "Temari… Your brother had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki just last night. We receive a message from Suna giving a summary of the events and a request for our help. We're the team that Konoha is sending to retrieve the Kazekage."

Temari for one was shocked by the news. She barely believed it but the looks from team seven simply revealed that it was no joke. Shikamaru himself was surprised that Akatsuki would strike so early. He had heard about the organization since he was an elite Jounin and was told of the organization.

"No… that… That can't be true…" Temari whispered, her knees buckling.

"I'm sorry…" Sakura said, going down on her knees to try and console the Sand ninja, "But you have to be strong for your brother. We should hurry to Suna. After all, Kankuro should be able to tell you everything he knows."

At the mention of her brother, Temari immediately shot up, "Kankuro! No… If you don't mind, I wish to follow you to Suna. I need to know…"

Kakashi nodded, "Of course Temari."

"What about you?" Sasuke questioned the Nara prodigy.

Shikamaru sighed softly, "Well, you've already got the person that was supposed to help me in Suna. I guess I don't have much of a choice now, do I?"

"Alright, let's go!"

Immediately, every ninja leaped towards the nearest tree branch and headed straight in the direction of Suna. Temari was mentally blaming herself that Gaara had been captured. If she had been in Suna during the time Akatsuki attacked, perhaps she could have made a difference. Her little brother… the one who had changed so much… now captured.

"Don't blame yourself…" Shikamaru muttered.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking." Shikamaru said, "That Gaara was kidnapped because you weren't there to protect him. Don't think like that. Besides, there's no point in worrying over spilt milk. For now, we should decide on what to do with the time that has been given to us."

Temari smiled for a moment before she replied, "Thanks…"

Deep inside the depths of Shikamaru's mind, he was already contemplating on strategies for whatever that was ahead of them.

***Konoha, Hokage tower***

The Hokage tower had less people now as office hours were over. The sun was about to set and the only ones still within the tower were ANBU guards patrolling the corridors and some administrative clerks.

Tsunade was still in her office, browsing through the few selective teams of elite Jounins that were away on a mission. She wanted to send back-up to Suna as soon as possible but most of the missions that the elite Jounins were on would take almost a week before they returned. The only team that was closest to returning was Maito Gai's team and it would be at least another two days before they returned.

The 5th Hokage sighed hopelessly. She would have sent an ANBU team but they were needed in Konoha. They were mostly for emergency defense to Konoha and only on rare occasions were ANBU's sent on S-rank missions. Even then, it was mostly the ANBU black opts that would be selected to go.

There was a knock on the door of the office and Tsunade barked out, "Enter!"

The former 3rd hokage and former teacher of Tsunade entered the office. Tsunade wondered what Sarutobi wanted as he rarely checked up on his student. After all, since he was now a council member, he rarely had the time for any social call.

"Old man… What is it?"

Sarutobi grinned as he took out his favorite pipe, "I just thought you might want someone to talk to. You look pretty stressed out."

Tsunade released a heavy sigh, resting her head on her desk, "You have no idea…"

"I've heard about the situation…" Sarutobi said, lighting his pipe, "At times like these, there's no use worrying about it too much. You have already done your part."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow, "Your experience as Hokage?"

Sarutobi chuckled, releasing a puff of smoke, "I guess you could say that. As a Hokage, you can only do so much. Unless Konoha itself is in danger, you can't really do much in this sort of situation. You'll just have to wish for the best."

"I know." Tsunade responded, "But… I'm just worried for Naruto. To send him in when he's one of Akatsuki's target but Naruto and his team was the only one available that can probably stand to toe with Akatsuki. I…"

"Do you believe in Naruto?"

"What…?"

"Do you… have faith in Naruto?" Sarutobi repeated.

Tsunade remained silent for a moment before she gave her answer, "Yes… Of course!"

Sarutobi now grinned, "Then you shouldn't worry so much. You know how Naruto always says he won't die until he becomes Hokage. Well, I believe in him and I know that he won't lose out."

"I guess you're right…"

"Of course I am!" Sarutobi was laughing lightly now, "I've been in Konoha for far longer than you. Not to mention that I was your teacher…"

Tsunade shook her head with a laugh, "Whatever…"

"Come on, stop thinking too much."

"Is that even something a teacher should say to a student who is the Hokage now? With lots of responsibilities?"

Sarutobi grinned, "Like I said, I've been in Konoha far longer than you. Trust me; you're stressing yourself too much. Go on, take a little break."

Tsunade could not argue with her teacher. After all, he was actually right. There was nothing else she could do for Naruto's team. Until Gai's team returned, she could not send any reinforcements for Naruto nor could she head in herself as she was the current Hokage. She would have to believe in Naruto fully in his abilities.

***Forest, night***

After travelling for hours, team seven finally set up a small camp to rest for the night. A small fire was set up in the center, the team round up by the fire to gather some heat. Maki and Naruto created two clones to watch over the camp in case anything were to happen.

From the speed that they had travelled, Kakashi predicted they would arrive at Suna in just half a day by tomorrow. However, the downfall was that they would have spent some chakra in doing so and only Naruto and Maki would not suffer from that disadvantage due to their huge chakra supply.

Temari had decided to retire early as she was still emotionally shocked by the news. It was understandable since it was her sibling that had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki.

Naruto was deep in thoughts, staring blankly at the fire. The nine-tails Jinchuuriki was removed from his thoughts when Sasuke took a sit next to him. For some strange reason, Sasuke had his Sharingan activated and his red eyes gleamed brightly in the dark. It was almost like a demon was staring down at Naruto.

"We should arrive by tomorrow." Sasuke pointed out to Naruto.

"I know…"

"We need to gather information before we can hunt down for Gaara's whereabouts. I hope you remember that." Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded, "Right…"

Sasuke got up to leave when Naruto spoke out, "Thanks…"

Sasuke simply nodded and sat back at his original sit. Naruto could tell that Sasuke was trying to cheer him up, to help in his own way. The last Uchiha was not very good in emotional situations but he had his own way to try and help. Naruto could tell that for a fact.

"You should get some rest." Sakura said, sitting close to Naruto.

"Don't worry about me." Naruto answered, smiling gently, "I'm sorry for worrying all of you. I just…"

Sakura shook her head, "We understand. You and Gaara… are the same… So of course you feel the need to help someone who can understand you."

"Thanks… Sakura-chan…"

"But you shouldn't overwork yourself." Sakura said, caressing his arm, "We'll need all the energy we need for tomorrow."

"I know…"

Sakura smiled and laid her head on Naruto's shoulder. As soon as she did, she was sound asleep. Naruto smiled and gave a small yawn. After that, he laid his head atop of Sakura's head and he also immediately dozed off to sleep. The emotional toll and travelling had finally taken it's toll and Naruto's body needed the rest after the day's events.

The only ones that were still awake were Shikamaru, Maki and Kakashi. Sasuke had also dozed off after his quick chat with Naruto. Shikamaru was sitting by a tree, his back on the bark and looking up in the night sky. As for the other two elite Jounins, they were busy discussing their current strategy.

"In the worst case scenario," Kakashi planned, "I and Sasuke can work fine. We both have Sharingans and although you and I are a good combination, we have to remember that Naruto will be their target. With your shadow clones and clone kunai, your power of confusion will help prevent them from capturing Naruto."

Maki nodded, "We'll still need to know what we're up against though."

"Leave that to me." Kakashi replied, "You and the rest find out about Suna's current situation while I and Sasuke will gather information regarding the Akatsuki's abilities. I can then plan out what will be the best move in going against them."

Maki gave a light sigh, "S-rank criminals eh… Honestly…"

Kakashi smiled within his mask, "Don't worry. We'll be fine…"

"I hope so…"

After a couple more discussions, the elite Jounins decided to rest up. Unknown to them, Shikamaru had been listening in on their discussions and although he liked some of their plans, he was modifying some on his own. They dragged him into this mission, so he felt it was only right that he joined them up to the end. Even if it was troublesome.

***Forest, next day***

In the early hours of the morning, team seven was already up. The camp was cleared out and they immediately continued on in their journey. Naruto and Temari especially were pumped up to reach Suna as quickly as possible.

Uchiha Sasuke activated his Sharingan once more. Although the others wondered why, Kakashi knew why. He had taught Sasuke early on in their two-year training to always be alert and since the Sharingan allowed them to analyze anything quickly, it would be best to use it. Added with the fact that Sasuke was an Uchiha, his chakra usage was considerably less compared to Kakashi.

An hour or so later, team seven and Temari were now running through the desert, no longer protected by the lush green scenery of the forest. Temari took this as a great sign as it meant they were close to Suna. As a matter of fact, they were far ahead of schedule.

Temari was right as three hours later, they sighted Suna in the distance. Their continuous run without stopping was definitely rewarding and this simply pumped Naruto more. He wanted to reach Suna instantly and know of what had happened two days ago when Gaara was captured.

"Just you wait Gaara!" Naruto said, "We're coming for you!"


	65. Situation in Suna

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter! I hope you'll enjoy this. :D  
A big thank you to all my readers and reviewers. The recent reviews I've gotten, they really mean a lot to me. It just… makes me happy reading them : )  
Next chapter, "The hideout"**

**CHAPTER 65: SITUATION IN SUNA**

Team seven of Konoha continued their run as they neared Suna. Temari was especially concerned with the current status of her home village. From the distance, there was nothing out of the ordinary so it was safe to assume that the damage done to the village was minimal. At least she hoped that was the case.

After several minutes of sprinting, they were close to Suna. Several ninjas by the main entrance of Suna spotted the incoming Konoha ninjas and because of the recent attacks, they almost attacked them until they spotted the Konoha headband that they were wearing. Not to mention that they spotted one of their elite Jounins among them, Temari.

One of the guards immediately ran to Temari, "Temari-san! Thank god you've arrived! We…"

"I've heard!" Temari answered quickly, "Let us in. I need to know what's going on!"

"Of course!"

The guard immediately ordered for the entrance to be opened. When team seven entered Suna, it was obvious that the village was still trying to get back on its feet after the attack. After all, the village was without their Kazekage so they were definitely vulnerable.

"We should head for the Kage tower." Temari suggested, "We can find out more from the administration. I'm sure Kankuro is over there too…"

"Right, let's go!" Naruto stated, following Temari as she led the way.

As they ran across the streets, Maki observed the current state of the village. He found it strange that there a large number of ANBU ninjas patrolling the ninja and even group of ninjas stationed at some areas of the town. It was almost as if they were prepared for a riot of some sort.

Once they entered the Kage tower, it was much more calm compared to the outside. Temari gestured for the Konoha ninjas to continue following her and they did, running up steps. Temari led them all to the top floor where her brother's office was. She assumed that she could get information from Baki and he should be at the office of the Kazekage.

Once they had arrived, Temari immediately entered the office. Everyone in the office was shocked by the sudden intrusion, immediately glaring at Temari and team seven. Temari immediately recognized her brother present, whom had several bandages around him and several council members.

"Temari!" Kankuro said in surprise, "What are you doing here?!"

"What happened?" Temari quickly cut to the chase, "I heard that Gaara was kidnapped!"

Kankuro looked away in pain, "Yeah… The Akatsuki… They…"

Temari grabbed Kankuro's clothes, "How?! Weren't you there to protect him?! How could they…?!"

"Temari!" A Suna council admonished, "We lost countless lives during the attack! We tried our very best! We understand that you're definitely hurt by the chain of events but this is not helping! Now calm down…"

Kankuro just held onto his sister as she actually shed a tear. In all his life, he had rarely or never seen his sister at her most vulnerable moment. No one in the office spoke as Kankuro tried to console his sister. After all, she had not been here during the attack so she had not seen Gaara in quite some time. With the thought that Gaara could die, it was indeed a terrible moment for Temari.

"You must be the team from Konoha?" The council member sitting behind the desk of the Kazekage asked.

"Yes, we are." Maki answered as the captain of the team, "Can you give us the details of the current situation?"

"Of course…" The council said, "I am Kuyazaki. I am currently the temporary Kazekage until we retrieve the Kazekage."

At this point, Temari finally realized what was missing, "Wait, what about Baki? Isn't he capable of running over Suna in Gaara's absence?"

Kuyazaki remained silent and looked at Kankuro. The puppeteer then answered sadly, "He fell to the Akatsuki… To protect Gaara…"

Temari was quiet at this. First they lost her brother and now Baki. Suna had truly lost two great figures and now she knew why there were a large number of ANBU and ninjas deployed in various locations of Suna. With Gaara gone and now Baki as another influential figure, the population in Suna must be frightened which could cause riots.

"Back to the matter at hand," Kakashi spoke out, "I'd like to know of the Akatsuki's abilities."

Kuyazaki nodded, "Kankuro will be of help to you then. He personally faced one of them and he also has an idea of the other Akatsuki. Kankuro, if you will."

Kankuro nodded and released Temari, "Follow me. I'll give you every bit of information I know."

Kankuro walked out of the office followed by Kakashi and Sasuke. Shikamaru would have preferred to follow them to gain some knowledge but he felt that Kakashi would be sufficient. Kakashi was almost as good as him in terms of analytical abilities so it was fine. He might as well process any information he could from here.

"So what's the current situation with Suna?" Shikamaru asked.

Kuyazaki shook his head, "Not very well unfortunately. As you might have guessed, the people of Suna are demanding answers for the missing Kazekage. Some riots had broken out yesterday but we seem to have restored order… for now…"

"It's that bad?" Sakura asked with concern.

Kuyazaki chuckled tiredly, "Oh indeed it is. As Gaara is the one-tails container, the people of Suna that know of the story wants him as a sense of… security if you will. As for the younger generation who knows nothing of the monster within Gaara see him as an icon. After all, he is the youngest to have become Kazekage so many see him as an inspiration. With his capture, well…"

"Where're the Akatsuki right now?!" Naruto demanded ferociously, surprising Kuyazaki.

"Well, unfortunately our tracking squad has not yet located them. However, I assure you that once we have word of it, you are free to give chase."

"No Suna ninjas are coming with us?" Maki asked.

"Not immediately…" Kuyazaki replied, "We have to deal with the people of Suna first before we can give chase. The attack by Akatsuki has taken a lot of our elite ninjas so the remaining elite ninjas we have, we cannot recklessly send them or they'll just die."

"It makes sense." Shikamaru said, supporting the idea.

"Shikamaru?!" Naruto was surprised that Shikamaru agreed. From what he understood, Kuyazaki was saying that their priority to recover Gaara was minimal.

"Naruto, the village still has to come first!" Shikamaru pointed out, "From what we know and what we saw when we entered, Suna is in a very vulnerable situation. Until they have restored proper order, they cannot risk sending off their best ninjas out of the village. That is why I'm guessing Suna requested for a Konoha team."

Naruto listened and then bowed his head a little as an apology for his outburst. Since Gaara was Kazekage, Naruto was sure that Gaara would have prioritized the village's safety first before himself. Kuyazaki was simply doing what Gaara would have wanted. Still, the blonde ninja still had the burning need to rescue his friend.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sakura offered.

Kuyazaki smiled, "Thank you for your kindness. Honestly, I'd prefer if you just prepare yourselves for the upcoming retrieval mission but if you're feeling up for it, you can help some areas of Suna while you wait until the tracking squad is able to gather the whereabouts of the Akatsuki."

"What makes you think they'll still be within Suna territory?" Naruto demanded, "They could have gone off to their hideout which would be beyond Suna's borders!"

"Because we know that Akatsuki's objectives are the tailed beasts… If they need to extract it, they need the container alive." Kuyazaki explained, "In order to extract the container alive, they only have a limited amount of time before the container himself recovers or a rescue team arrives. So they can't be far."

"What makes you so sure of all of this?" Maki asked amazed.

"It was in the report by Jiraiya-sama, one of the legendary Sannin." Kuyazaki responded, "He came to Suna recently and delivered the report."

It was clear now to Maki that they only had a limited amount of time to rescue Gaara. Until the tracking team discovered the whereabouts of the Akatsuki pair that kidnapped Gaara, they could not do much.

"I'll go around and see what I can do to help." Maki decided bowing and leaving the office. Sakura followed suit, following the pink haired Jounin. Only Naruto and Shikamaru remained in the Kazekage office.

***Forest, distance away from Suna***

Kakuzu and Hidan had been walking patiently for hours towards their hideout for the extraction. The three 'Reaper' ninjas simply followed them from behind, not keeping contact with them. They were only teaming up because the leaders from their respective organizations had ordered them to team up.

After a couple of minutes, they arrived by a small valley with a flowing river by the bottom. Hidan and Kakuzu jumped down and landed on the cold, flowing water. They then walked towards a large boulder with a seal placed on the large boulder. Kakuzu formed a seal and poured chakra into the seal. Automatically, the large boulder slowly moved aside, revealing a cave behind the boulder.

"You'll remain outside and guard the entrance until we're done with the extraction." Kakuzu ordered, walking into the cave.

Kizaki bowed in acknowledgement, "Of course."

Hidan smirked, "You fucktards should stop bowing so much! Have some balls man."

"Hidan! Stop causing trouble…" Kakuzu remarked, "You've already had your fun in Suna."

Hidan groaned in annoyance, "Whatever. You're such a prick man…"

Kakuzu ignored Hidan and looked at Kizaki, "I leave it to you to take care of the one following us."

Kizaki nodded, "Leave it to us."

With that, Kakuzu formed a seal again and with that, the large boulder returned to its original position once more, covering the entrance of the small Akatsuki hide-out.

Yamui cursed at the boulder, "That scythe-wielding bastard! How… How dare he… No respect towards us at all!"

"Relax…" Takyu said, "Once we're done with the mission, we won't be seeing them."

Kizaki patted Yamui's shoulder, "What Takyu said is true… Just put up with it. Remember that this is all part of the 'Reapers' objectives."

Yamui brushed Kizaki's hand off, "Whatever!"

"Shall we take care of our guests?" Takyu said casually.

Kizaki simply nodded and gave the order.

Far above the valley, four groups of Suna ninjas had concealed their presence by the trees. They had finally discovered the location of where the Akatsuki were so they would need to quickly give out the location back to Suna before anything happened.

The elite Jounin leading the squad was one of the elite Jounins that tried to defend Gaara from the Akatsuki but failed in doing so. However, he was not injured in the ordeal so it was almost ideal that he led the tracking squad as he was good in tracking and also he had some knowledge of what the Akatsuki's abilities were.

"It looks like this is where they're hiding." The captain of the tracking squad said, "Send back information to Suna about this location."

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." A voice said from below the tree.

Below, Takyu had finished his set of seals, "Earth release! Earth crushing technique!"

The earth immediately climbed the bark of the tree and crushed the tree into a pancake, destroying the tree. The four Suna ninjas immediately leaped away from their hiding spot. It was clear that they had been discovered. When one of the Suna ninjas landed on the ground, Yamui was already waiting for them.

"Wind release! Air disorder!"

After a brief second of gathering chakra to the palm of his hand, Yamui gave a thunderous blow on the back of the Suna ninja. A large crunch was heard as Yamui easily broke the Suna ninja's back, incapacitating him. The three remaining Suna ninjas panicked.

"We might not make it out of this alive." The captain of the tracking squad said, "Send the coordinates now! We'll buy you time!"

The Suna ninja nodded and began channeling chakra. Takyu and Yamui quickly aimed the Suna ninja planning to send the coordinates but the two 'Reaper' ninjas were pushed away by the Suna ninjas.

"Stop him from sending the message!" Kizaki ordered.

"Not while I'm still standing!" The captain retorted, tossing several kunai and shurikens to buy his subordinate time to send the coordinates.

Kizaki chakra sprinted towards the 'messenger' but the other Suna ninja intercepted him. Kizaki opened the palm of his left hand and pressed on a seal he had on his forearm. Instantly, Kizaki's left palm revealed a katana. The Suna ninja jumped back but due to the katana's length, Kizaki easily sliced the Suna ninja by the chest, wounding him.

However, Kizaki was too late. The messenger of the tracking squad suddenly shot up a ray of light into the sky and the light proceeded to head towards the direction of Suna. Whoever the ninja was, Kizaki knew that the messenger was a ninja that specialized in such situations, a so-called 'messenger' ninja.

"It's too late." The captain spoke, "We've sent the location of your hideout to Suna."

"That may be so…" Kizaki concluded, "But that will not spare your lives."

The captain of the tracking squad had already known that. He had served Suna for a good twenty years and he hoped that his last mission would be worth it. As he looked at the two injured Suna ninjas and his 'messenger' he had no regrets. They would die for a good cause.

***Suna, in a room within the Kage tower***

Kankuro winced in pain as the wound he received from his battle with the Akatsuki throbbed in pain. He ignored it for now as he needed to pass the information of Akatsuki's abilities to Kakashi and Sasuke. After this, he would need to receive his medication to heal his wounds and ease his pain.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked when he noticed Kankuro wincing in pain.

Kankuro simply smirked, "Nah, its nothing."

"So what can you tell us about the Akatsuki that attacked Suna?" Sasuke questioned.

Kankuro thought back at the battle and looked at Kakashi in the eye, "The one I had fought personally was a scythe-wielding guy. Honestly, his skills with the scythe are definitely impressive but not S-rank material. What makes him so… frightening is his ability to not… die."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, curious whereas Sasuke was dumbfounded. The copy ninja had to ask, "What do you mean by he cannot die?"

"It's really hard to believe," Kankuro admitted, "But we had stabbed him a number of times. We ganged up on him, slashed him, scratched him, some even landed Fire techniques on him and although they burned him… He simply laughed it off. He had screamed in pain, which means he feels pain but he just… cannot die!"

The Uchiha heir could see that Kankuro was trembling a little. The memory of the fight must have been horrible. Sasuke wondered if the Akatsuki that had attacked Suna were some sort of monsters. What kind of person could not die after receiving attacks like what Kankuro had described?

"And that's not all…"

"What else?" Sasuke enquired.

"These wounds I received…" Kankuro said, looking at the wounds, "It's really hard to explain but… In one part of the fight, any damage done to the scythe-wielder, I receive the same. It was as if we're connected somehow. These wounds on my body; he stabbed himself and I received them. We were somehow able to stop the technique but we didn't know how."

Kakashi found it troubling indeed if this Akatsuki ninja was able to do so. What was worse was that Kankuro had no idea when the technique was in place but at least they now know what his abilities were. It was now just a matter of knowing when the technique was used.

"And what about his partner? What are his abilities?" Sasuke asked.

Kankuro shook his head, "We don't know much about his abilities unfortunately. Gaara faced his alone but we do know this. Gaara had killed him in his fight but he somehow… He was somehow revived. He also had about three black-like creatures that could use a technique from an element. I saw Fire techniques and Wind techniques… but… I'm afraid that's all I know."

"I see…" Kakashi replied slowly. He was already beginning to try and analyze the information he received. Honestly, it was not much to help him to devise a plan to counter them but it was the best they could get. From what Kankuro had explained, the scythe-wielder could not die and had a technique that would connect a person and himself to inflict damage to both. Whereas the other Akatsuki ninja that fought Gaara, he was able to use numerous elemental abilities and was revived in the fight.

"Thanks for the information." Kakashi said, getting up from his seat, "Sasuke, let's go. We need to let the others know of what we learnt."

Sasuke followed Kakashi out of the room, leaving the puppeteer prodigy alone in the room. Kankuro hoped that the information he had would help team seven of Konoha in their quest to retrieve his brother. For now, he needed to treat his wounds and rest up. He was in no condition to patrol the streets of Suna in his condition.

***Streets of Suna***

Haruno Maki and his niece patrolled the streets of Suna for some time now. They could see that some of the Suna ninjas were already exhausted and at were their limits but they could not rest. Not when the villagers could cause any trouble. However, from what Kuyazaki had said earlier, it seems that despite being a container, the village trusted Gaara to have elected him to become Kazekage.

During their earlier patrol, Sakura had treated to some of the injuries of the Suna ninjas. It was just a natural instinct as a medic-nin to treat the injured. As her uncle, Maki was proud that she had grown to be an exceptionally gifted Suna ninja. He wished that his brother, Sakura's father was alive to see this.

"I can't believe the villagers would attack their own people. The Suna ninjas can't do much but take the beating."

Maki shrugged, "It seems that Gaara holds a lot of influence to the people. Then again, I doubt it would be this bad but with the death of the advisor of Gaara, Baki, the citizens must be scared."

"Akatsuki… They're causing so much pain…" Sakura said sadly and then growled in anger, "They must pay for this."

"Don't let your…"

"Emotions control you…" Sakura finished, "I know… You always say that."

Maki laughed heartily, "That's right! Letting your emotions take the better of you can change the outcome of a fight."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself." Sakura ushered.

The two continued patrolling the streets when the two Haruno could hear some sort of fight breaking out. There were loud voices a distance from where they were and the two immediately headed off in the direction. Half a minute later, they spotted several Suna ninjas and an ANBU squad trying to stop a riot.

"Where is the Kazekage?!" A villager shouted, "Why have you not got him back?!"

"Until we restore order, we cannot do anything!" A Suna ANBU retorted, "Now back down!"

The crowd refused though and all the Suna ninjas could do was hold the line before it got any worse. Maki was about to create shadow clones to try and help when the appearance of a Suna ninja stopped him from doing so.

"Maki?" Himura said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Himura-chan…" Maki muttered, "We… We've been requested by Suna to help retrieve the Kazekage."

Sakura stared at the woman in front of her chatting with her uncle. Although she had changed, Sakura recognized her as the person in the photo her uncle kept by his bedside; the picture that consisted of her father, Maki and this woman. Her uncle had also said that the woman was a Suna ninja now so Sakura concluded that this was the woman.

"Oh… So you're the team that Konoha sent." Himura then smiled with relief, "I'm glad that they sent you. We need all the help we can get."

"Is the situation in Suna that bad?" Maki asked, looking at the large crowd.

Himura chuckled, "You have no idea. The situation is so bad that we could only afford to send one tracking team to locate the Akatsuki. If not, we would have sent several teams but we cannot afford to leave Suna in such a vulnerable state."

"I see…"

"I've got to get back to my post." Himura declared, "Maki… Come back alive, alright?"

"Of course."

Himura placed her hand on Maki's left cheek for a moment then left for her post. Maki turned around to watch her leave, feeling his feelings for her arise once more. It was almost hopeless to drown those old feelings. They would only come back up when he interacted with her.

Right on time, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kakashi and Sasuke arrived. From what Sakura could see, Naruto had a determined look on his face. The nine-tails container stopped his run as he neared his pink haired teacher, his cerulean blue eyes filled with fire.

"Maki-sensei!" Naruto said quickly, "We've got it!"

Maki was confused for a moment, "Got what?"

"The coordinates…" Sasuke answered, "Suna just received the location of the where the Akatsuki are hiding a few minutes ago."

"What?" Maki immediately got serious, "So where are they?"

"Precisely north-east of Suna, several hundred kilometers away. From what I can tell, it is located in a valley. It would take at least a day or so before we arrive." Kakashi explained.

"Alright, let's go!" Maki ordered and team seven immediately chakra sprinted.

Team seven got out of Suna in minutes, not wishing to waste any more time than they should. Gaara's lives depend on their speed and if the Akatsuki complete the extraction, Gaara would lose his life. Naruto clenched his fist as determination flowed through his veins.

"Gaara… Don't die on me… We're coming to save you!"

Sasuke could feel the burning desire emitted from Naruto. The Uchiha simply matched Naruto's pace, aiming to protect Naruto since Akatsuki would be targeting to capture Naruto. Sasuke knew that if they were going to get Naruto, they were going to have to go through the last Uchiha of Konoha.

***Suna, Kage tower***

Kuyazaki sighed as he read through the report about the recent riot that just broke through. He was thankful that so far, Hajime Himura, one of their top elite Jounin had been able to suppress the riots but he wondered for how much longer she could do so.

"Alright, thank you Himura-san." Kuyazaki said with a tired smile, "You can leave now."

Himura bowed in respect and left the office. As she opened the door, she was surprised to find an old lady there. The old lady entered the office as Himura exited the office. Himura found it surprising that the old lady would come to this place. After all, she refused to have any connections with Suna for some time now.

Kuyazaki himself was surprised, "Chiyo-sama… What brings you here?"

Chiyo smiled, "How fares the situation?"

Kuyazaki narrowed his eyes in anger, "Are you here to mock me?"

Chiyo laughed loudly and then looked at Kuyazaki in the eye, "Ah, your generation is so lucky. You have Konoha as your allies and they responded so quickly to your aid. In my time, we would trust no one. That is why this generation is weak. This is a problem of Suna and should be solved by Suna alone. Instead, you rely on others to help and that is why you're weak."

Kuyazaki remained silent for a moment before he answered, "Our generation may be weak… But compared to your generation that strived to work alone with no allies, at least we're not fools."

Chiyo simply smiled at the response.

***Akatsuki hideout***

"How much longer is this going to take?" Hidan complained, "My neck hurts…"

"Cease your complaints!" A shadowy figure said, "We need you to pay attention. This extraction process will take at least a day or so before we're completed with the extraction."

"It seems that our location has been given away." Kakuzu pointed out, "I heard a fight breaking out earlier. It must have been a tracking team by Suna. I doubt that those three 'Reaper' ninjas could handle them."

The shadow figure then turned to his right, "Zetsu… Can you tell us if ninjas are headed this way?"

The figure to the right of the shadow was silent for a few seconds before he responded, "A team from Konoha… Haruno Maki of the Replicator, Hateke Kakashi of the Copy ninja and… the nine-tails container are present among them."

Kakuzu and Hidan were surprised by the latest bit of information. They would have assumed that Suna would be sending their own ninjas but it seems they needed their ally's help. Not to mention that two of the ninjas were well-known in the ninja world and the nine-tails container was among them.

"Hidan, Kakuzu…" The shadow figure barked out, "If the opportunity presents itself… Capture the nine-tails…"

Hidan and Kakuzu simply chuckled in response. Kakuzu was all prepared for another good round of a fight. The battle he had with the Kazekage had not truly satisfied him but now, two famed ninjas were coming. Not to mention that Kakashi had a bounty on his head.

Uchiha Itachi, one of the shadowed figures remained silent as he continued with the extraction progress. It seems that his brother was going to be present. Itachi grinned, keen on witnessing the fight.


	66. The Hideout

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter! :D I hope you will enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do drop a review on your thoughts :)  
***Spoiler alert*****

**Anyone who has read the latest chapter of Naruto, what are your thoughts? Honestly… I won't say that I'm upset about Tobi's true identity, but I feel that Kishimoto using him has some plotholes but hei, Kishimoto tends to surprise us so I'll just wait and see what he can tell us in the next chapter. I'd like to know your thoughts :D  
***Spoiler alert end***  
Next chapter "Battle against the Akatsuki"**

**CHAPTER 66: THE HIDEOUT**

***Konoha night, Main gate***

"Do you understand me? You're to provide backup to team Maki! Suna should have some information of the current whereabouts of where they are. They're going to need all the help they can get!" Tsunade barked out her orders.

In front of her, there were two teams prepared to move out. One of the teams were Team Gai which consisted of Maito Gai, the Taijutsu specialist of Konoha. Gai would be bringing underlings which were Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji and TenTen whom all are Jounins with two of them being elite Jounin.

The other team consisted of three high-rank ninjas of Konoha. One of them was an ANBU which was given the codename Yamato as the team leader. With him are two newly appointed Jounins, Kotetsu and Izumo. Although they were not yet elite Jounins, they were also rising ninjas of Konoha and besides, Tsunade had promised team seven to send reinforcements once she had some.

"YOSH!" Gai hollered in excitement, "Just you wait Maki… Kakashi! I'll get to Suna as soon as possible and show those Akatsuki bastards the power of youth! Let's go!"

"Right behind you, Gai-sensei!" Lee said in a loud voice.

Immediately the two beasts of Konoha sprinted off for Suna. Neji and TenTen followed suit but they did it without the excitement shown by their team mates. Tsunade sighed at their antics but was pleased that team seven would be getting some of the best backups Konoha had to offer.

"Alright, we'll head off as well Tsunade-sama." Yamato said with a bow, "Team, let's go!"

Yamato and the two Jounins sprinted off behind team Gai. Tsunade crossed her arms across her chest, hoping that the team would be fine. Now she could nothing but wait for news from them.

***Desert, Night***

Hours had passed since team seven left Suna in pursuit of the Akatsuki. With the speed that they were moving, it would take at least a maximum of one day before they arrived at the valley. The sun was already half way down the horizon so it was a matter of time before darkness arrived.

Naruto would have preferred to travel faster but the harsh desert terrain prevented him from doing so. With the heat and the sand, it was definitely taking a toll on team seven's stamina. Of course Naruto faced no such problem but his team mates were definitely feeling the cost of moving under extreme heat.

"What do you know of the Akatsuki's abilities?" Shikamaru asked as they continued running across the desert.

"Not enough for us to properly nullify their attacks." Kakashi replied, "From what we know, one of them wields a scythe and from Kankuro's description, cannot die."

"What did you say?"

"We're still not sure." Kakashi continued, "But that's what he told us. Apparently, they managed to deliver several fatal wounds on the guy but…"

Shikamaru could barely believe what he was hearing. Maki then pressed on, "What else?"

"He also seems to have a technique that can bind you to him." Sasuke explained, "Basically… Any attacks you do to him, the person that he has bonded with will also suffer the same."

"Like some sort of voodoo?" Maki asked.

"That's the idea anyway." Kakashi stated.

"What about the other Akatsuki member?" Sakura questioned.

Kakashi responded, "It seems this guy is able to use multiple elemental techniques. If this is true, then we'll need to be careful since he can combine different elemental abilities to create a much more powerful element. That is what we know for the second Akatsuki."

Naruto listened intently and simply quickened his pace. His team mates immediately followed suit in order to catch up with him. From listening to the fact that the two Akatsuki members that had attacked Gaara were unstoppable simply enhanced Naruto's fury at his friend's capture.

As for the Nara prodigy, he was not too optimistic about the current situation. Even though Suna had provided some information regarding the Akatsuki, it was not going to be enough for him or Kakashi to come up with anything to secure the lives of the team. Of course, he was not even supposed to be in this rescue mission but now that he knew of Gaara's capture, there was no way he was going to ignore it.

"So what do you propose Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru asked, finally at a loss of what to do.

Kakashi shook his head, "Nothing much we can do. We still do not have a clear idea of what they can do. Until we do, we'll just have to see for ourselves what Kankuro was talking about."

Maki had to agree, "Indeed. For now, we'll just have to hurry! Every second counts."

A couple more hours had passed before the sun finally set and the moon took its place in the sky. In the day, the temperature was unbearable due to the heat but now with the night, the temperature was extremely cold. Team seven made camp in the desert but with no firewood, they had not much light except through the bright moon, which did not provide much.

"We should arrive early tomorrow morning." Maki estimated, "So I want all of you to be prepared both physically and mentally." Maki then turned at his student, "Naruto… I know I've said this lot of times but…"

"I know…" Naruto interjected, "I know…"

Sakura was already asleep close to Naruto, allowing their body heats to warm themselves. Naruto however could not sleep. He wanted to continue on but he knew that by doing so, they would merely exhaust themselves by the time they arrived and just die. This was the best option but they were wasting time.

As the minutes passed, most of team seven was almost close to falling asleep when Sasuke and Kakashi sensed a chakra approaching them. With the sudden alert on the two Sharingan users, Maki also felt a presence closing in on their location. A couple of seconds later, they were right. From the distance, they spotted a figure approaching them and Shikamaru immediately recognized the person.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked when she arrived.

"I am not going to just stay in Suna while my brother is still captured!" Temari explained her case, "I'm going with you! I need to rescue my brother!"

By then, Naruto was once more wide awake. He could see the fiery determination in the eyes of Temari, the desire to save her brother from the grasp of Akatsuki. It was basically the same sort of determination he was having right now.

"Don't worry." Naruto said, a smile of determination growing on his face, "We won't let Akatsuki do as they please! Tomorrow, they'll pay for what they have done!"

Temari smiled at Naruto's determination, "Thanks…"

"For now, we'll need to have a quick rest." Kakashi suggested, "We'll be leaving soon."

Temari nodded and took a place within the team to rest up. She had been travelling to try and keep up with them and was thankful to have found them. She might have lacked the tracking skills but she was still a ninja so she knew how to follow them.

Team seven slept soundly that night. In a few hours from now, they would depart to cover the rest of the journey for the small Akatsuki hide-out. It was now just a matter of whether they could make it on time to save the captured Kazekage or arrive too late to find the Kazekage's one-tail extracted and hence, his death.

***Small Akatsuki hideout***

Sabaku No Gaara could not move, not even an inch. Although he was barely conscious, he had no idea where he was or what was going on. He just simply felt like something was being removed from his inside. Unable to gather the strength to attempt an escape, the 5th Kazekage simply waited until death would take him.

Hidan and Kakuzu estimated that the extraction process should take no more than a couple more hours before they were done with the one-tailed beast. Of course, with the extraction of the beast, it would come to no surprise that the Jinchuuriki would die. For Kakuzu, it was a fitting scene for the Kazekage he had fought earlier.

"How much longer? God… This is taking forever!" Hidan complained while moving his neck around.

"It won't take any longer." The dark figure, seemingly the leader of the group answered, "Just be patient for now."

"Well the least you could do is at least tell me what the fuck Akatsuki is all about!" Hidan spoke in frustration, "At least it'll give me some time to entertain myself."

"Hmm…" The leader thought for a moment, "It's true that you being the newest recruit to Akatsuki, we have not yet briefed you of our objectives." The leader then turned towards Kakuzu, "Kakuzu… I take it you have not yet explained it to him?"

Kakuzu simply remained silent while concentrating on the extraction. The leader grinned and then begun his explanation, "Akatsuki's goals are simple. First, as you should know, we're to acquire the nine-tailed beasts. The reason for that is that the beasts would be used to create a deadly kinjutsu technique that could wipe out one of the five great nations in an instant, so if countries that go to war and do not have any ninjas, they would turn to Akatsuki and our "weapon." Sooner or later, the other remaining countries would become afraid to start wars for fear of being completely wiped out. Thus, through this mutual fear, war would cease to exist and the world would know true peace."

Everyone among the Akatsuki were silent as their leader finally exposed the true objectives of Akatsuki. Well, some of them already knew but those who had not, like Hidan, now were aware of the objective. Kakuzu cared little for it so long as he could continue his bounty hunting.

Hidan snorted after a moment, "Wow, you've got big ambitions, eh leader?"

The leader remained silent and Hidan continued, "Well honestly, I don't really care what the hell you plan on doing. All I want is the people to embrace Lord Jashin as their lord and I'll be fine. So long as I'm allowed to spread my religion, I don't care what Akatsuki orders me to do."

"Fair enough."

Akatsuki then once more concentrated on the extraction process of the one-tails. In a couple more hours, the one-tails would be theirs and any reinforcements by Suna to retrieve the Kazekage would be met with surprise and probably not surprisingly, tears.

Frankly, Kakuzu would prefer to avoid any confrontation after the extraction so that he could return to his bounty hunting. Not to mention that his partner was assigned to capture the two-tails so his time on bounty hunting was going to be limited.

On the far end of the dark shadows, Uchiha Itachi was anticipating the arrival of team seven of Konoha. He wanted to witness how far his little brother had progressed in the two years that had passed. The last time they met, although Sasuke was weak to him, Sasuke was considered at least a Chuunin by right in terms of fighting abilities.

'I hope you won't disappoint me, little brother…' Itachi thought with a smile.

***Desert, morning***

Team seven was already on the move before the sun even rose above the horizon. As usual, Naruto was leading the pack in hopes to arrive as soon as possible. His blood was boiling in anticipation, his hopes high that his friend was still alive and needed help.

"Judging by how far we travelled," Sakura stated, "We should be arriving by a forest soon."

"That is correct." Kakashi said, "It seems that your niece is much better than you in terms of analyzing, Maki."

Maki popped a vein in anger, "Ah shut up! Not every ninja can be good at everything."

"Heh, you're just making excuses." Sasuke taunted with a smile.

Sakura giggled at her uncle's predicament. When she trained under Tsunade, healing technique was not the only thing she was taught. Tsunade had taught the young Haruno how to properly analyze situations, increase her skills in dodging attacks, strategy and many more that was required in being a good leader.

Just as Sakura had predicted, they arrived at lush green scenery a half an hour later. Immediately, everyone quickly soared towards the nearest tree branch and began chakra sprinting from tree branch to tree branch. It was the quickest way to travel when ninjas travel through forests.

"We're quite close out of Suna's borders. We have to be careful." Temari warned.

Naruto turned back, "How come? We're still in Suna territory though, right?"

"That's true." Temari responded, "However that also means they can easily escape through the borders. The moment they're out of Suna's territory, we have no jurisdiction to chase them down unless if we have official documents."

"What?!" Naruto was furious, "They captured Gaara! The Kazekage! Isn't that reason enough?!"

"Naruto…" Sasuke joined in now, "The capture of the Kazekage is still not known publicly. By entering another nation's territory with claims of the Kazekage being captured without official documents… We'll just be increasing tension among the great nations!"

Temari nodded in acknowledgement at Sasuke's explanation, "Which is why we have to prevent them from escaping if that is their intention. Even though we're at peace, other than Konoha, Suna is still not on the best of terms with the other villages. I'm sure that is the same for Konoha, especially her relations with Iwa."

This simply forced Naruto to quicken his pace. Shikamaru would have preferred that they slowed down a little so that he could come up with efficient strategies and a way to back off in the worst-case scenario. However with all the pressure to hurry, he could only think of so much.

Suddenly, while they were running, a large wave of shurikens and kunai emerged in all directions of team seven. Everyone of team seven was caught by surprise but was quick to react.

"Shadow replication technique!"

Both Naruto and Maki created at least five clones to take the hits. Of course, the clones were not going to be enough as the barrage of weapons were still coming at them and the clones were being destroyed at a quick rate. However this bought Kakashi enough time to create his set of seals.

"Earth release! Barrier technique!"

Everyone among team seven quickly headed for the ground as the earth began rising, creating a shell. The walls of the earth blocked off the shurikens and team seven was safe under the shell. After the attack was finished, Kakashi released the technique, exposing them once more.

Maki sensed movement in front of them and quickly threw a shuriken.

"Shuriken Shadow Replication technique!"

The shuriken multiplied quickly and shredded everything that stood in its path. Whatever that moved, it quickly took cover behind some trees before the shuriken reached the assailant. However, the attacker was not safe as Sasuke stepped forward, creating seals at an insanely speed.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

After taking a deep breath, Sasuke released a large fireball with a diameter of at least twenty meters. It basically destroyed all the trees in front of them and of course, whoever it was that was hiding behind the trees would be incinerated as well. After a couple of seconds, all of the trees in front of them were burnt to ashes quickly but a person was still standing tall, not even injured.

"You're not of the Akatsuki." Maki observed since the person was not wearing the infamous cloak.

"There's no way in hell I'm part of that group!" The assailant retorted angrily.

"But it seems you know of it." Sakura pointed out, drawing out a kunai to prepare for battle.

"Of course he does." A voice said. Everyone turned to their left and realized there were two more new comers. They all wore Jounin vests so whoever they were, they were definitely aligned with a village. The two new comers joined their friend, standing by his sides as they glared at team seven.

"Yamui, I told you to calm yourself." The person of the right said, "You remember our mission."

The guy in the center nodded, "I know, don't worry."

It was at this point that both Kakashi and Maki noticed their headbands. The one in the center was sporting a Konoha headband but it had a scar across it, signifying his broken ties with Konoha. His team mates however were wearing Iwa headbands but also with a scar across the home village.

"A Konoha and two Iwa ninjas that have betrayed their respective home villages…" Maki observed, "You're the Reapers!"

The Iwa ninja on the right, Kizaki smiled, "Ah, it seems that you're familiar with us. Yes we're of the Reapers, former ninjas of Konoha or Iwa that seek to destroy our respective homes."

Shikamaru also had researched about the organization known as the Reapers. It seems that from what he read, the group was created after the end of the 3rd ninja world war when a large number of Konoha and Iwa ninjas abandoned their village because of not wanting to stop the war and demolish the enemy. Instead, they now work together in order to bring down their home village. He now heard that any ninjas that had betrayed their village were welcome in the Reapers, which would mean that the organization was growing larger and larger.

"Sorry but we can't let you pass." Tukyo muttered, "We will stop you here."

"Prepare yourselves." Kizaki added in, drawing out a katana.

Unfortunately for the Reapers, Shikamaru decided to act quickly. Forming a seal, he quickly brought forth his shadow to capture the three. The two Iwa ninjas who were not familiar with the technique were caught easily but Yamui, the ex-Konoha ninja leaped back quickly.

"Shadow bind technique… Success." Shikamaru then turned towards Naruto, "You guys go ahead! I'll buy you guys sometime!"

Naruto remembered this exact same scene two years ago when they had to rescue Sasuke, "What…? But what about…"

"Go!" Shikamaru barked out, "I'll be fine!"

Not wanting to do so but feeling he had to, Naruto sprinted away. The rest of team seven quickly followed suit to not waste the opportunity. Deep down, Kakashi hoped that Shikamaru would be fine. Three against one would be too much even if Shikamaru was an elite Jounin but their mission was also an important one. After all, he had the motto of not abandoning comrades but Shikamaru here was the one to insist that they continued on without him.

"You're not going to pass!" Yamui screamed.

Much to everyone's surprise, Yamui had not gone after team seven. Yamui was a former Konoha ninja after all and he knew the mechanics of the Nara ninjas. Yamui charged towards Shikamaru and because Shikamaru was vulnerable, he was forced to release the technique. Kizaki and Tukyo immediately head off to stop team seven.

"Wind release! Sound of the breeze technique!"

Temari blew the powerful gust of wind at Kizaki and Tukyo. The moment the breeze touched them, they could not move for at least another three seconds. By then, team seven had disappeared from sight. Temari however had decided to stay behind to back up Shikamaru.

"You'll pay for this!" Yamui cursed his killing intent extremely high.

"You troublesome woman…" Shikamaru said before he sighed.

Temari chuckled as she moved to the defensive stance, "Now now… If I don't stay with you, you'd die in seconds."

Shikamaru stared at the clouds, wishing he was a cloud also. That way he would not have to be bothered with all of these troublesome events. However, that was not to be and he simply prepared himself for the upcoming fight.

***Akatsuki hideout, an hour later***

Team seven arrived at the Akatsuki hideout an hour later. Kakashi inspected the surrounding area for any traps but none were to be found. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and spotted the seal placed on the large boulder. The Uchiha heir walked towards the seal and inspected it. He was about to reach for it when he was stopped.

"Wait!" Kakashi called out, "Let me do it!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Kakashi stepped up, "A trap?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yes. It seems that whoever pulls the trap, the seal would reinforce with a special technique. I don't plan on finding out what it is so I'll just deactivate the seal."

Kakashi began forming seals and when he was done, he placed both palms of his hand on the seal, pouring chakra into the seal, "Release!"

A large screech echoed throughout the valley and the seal turned to ashes. Whatever the trap was, the copy ninja had deactivated it easily. After all, Kakashi was improving in sealing techniques so it was natural that he had learnt how to deactivate seals. Kakashi was fortunate that the seal placed on the trap was a pretty low level seal.

"Alright Sakura." Maki said, looking at his niece, "Time to put your chakra strength to good use."

Sakura nodded and stepped back to gather her chakra. Naruto took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the battle. He wanted to know Gaara's condition quickly. He wanted to know if he was still alive. The nine-tails container clenched his fist in anticipation for the upcoming battle between him and his friends against the two S-rank criminals of the Akatsuki.

***Inside Akatsuki hideout***

"Heh, I'm surprised they managed to blow our trap." Hidan commented as he licked his scythe in anticipation.

Kakuzu merely gave a grunt in response. He had no interest in the fight since he wanted to return to his bounty hunting ways. He was even more upset that the Reapers failed to buy time. They had completed the extraction but could not retreat as Zetsu had reported that team seven was close.

Kakuzu and Hidan were sitting on rocks as they awaited for the rescuers to break through their entrance. Between them lay the deceased former Jinchuuriki of the one-tails. After having the beast extracted and consumed by the statue, Gaara had lost his life. The 5th Kazekage of Suna had fallen to the Akatsuki.


	67. Battle against the Akatsuki

**Hei guys, here is the new chapter! I know it's been a delay but I've been busy with a new project.  
Me and a friend are writing an original story so that is the reason for the slow update. It is a huge project and once we're done with the chapter, we're going to post it on "fictionpress dot com" . I hope some of you will take the time to read it once it has been published :D  
Next chapter, "A new power"**

**CHAPTER 67: BATTLE AGAINST THE AKATSUKI**

Haruno Sakura charged up her fist before she ran forward to demolish the large boulder that was blocking the entrance to the Akatsuki hideout. Everyone among team seven prepared themselves as Sakura neared the boulder. It was almost as if the whole scene was set in slow-motion as the young pink haired Chuunin threw her fist on the center of the boulder.

A loud crack echoed throughout the valley and at first, the boulder was still intact. Slowly a small crack appeared at the spot Sakura had delivered her punch. The crack slowly spread throughout the entire boulder before it crumpled to pieces, revealing a small entrance to a cave. Team seven had successfully found the opening of the Akatsuki hideout.

"Let's go!" Naruto hollered out, heading straight for the entrance.

"Naruto! Wait!" Maki called and quickly rushed for his student.

Everyone followed quickly and it was not far before they were greeted by Kakuzu and Hidan. Naruto stopped in his tracks, his killing intent extremely high. Maki stood by Naruto's side and everyone was greeted with the same sight. There between the two Akatsuki ninjas was the body of Gaara on the ground, his eyes closed and no signs of breathing were present.

"Gaara…?" Naruto spoke softly, his voice trembling, "Gaara… You okay?"

Hidan chuckled with glee, "Finally you guys are here. I've been waiting for a good fight!"

Naruto however heard nothing from Hidan. He was only looking at the lifeless body of Gaara, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight. The young blonde ninja of Konoha took one step forward, hoping to find any signs of life from his friend.

Kakuzu could see the pain in the eyes of Naruto. He found it strange that the nine-tails Jinchuuriki was a friend to the one-tail Jinchuuriki. Still, the result was the same. Gaara was dead and nothing would change that simple fact. Kakuzu knew that no Jinchuuriki would survive the extraction.

"Hoi… Gaara… Answer me." Naruto spoke, his voice breaking.

"Are you stupid or something?" Hidan taunted with a sneer, "He's dead kid! You hear me? DEAD! What a pathetic Kazekage! He can't even handle the two of us, he deserves to die!" Hidan then roared with laughter.

"SHUT UP!"

Naruto charged forward with no thoughts but to shut Hidan up. Naruto's anger allowed some of the Kyuubi chakra to seep out, Naruto's eyes deep red and his whisker marks thicker.

"Naruto! Stop!" Maki called out but Naruto was too far ahead.

Hidan grinned as he welcomed Naruto for the fight. As Naruto neared Hidan, the immortal Akatsuki whipped back his scythe, prepared to swing it with all his might. Finally Hidan swung his weapon but it met nothing. Naruto was grabbed by Sasuke and pulled back to his group of friends.

"Naruto! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sasuke admonished, still trying to hold on to Naruto who was thrashing around wildly.

"LET ME GO!" Naruto screamed, "How dare he say those things about Gaara?! I…"

"Naruto!" Maki had to raise his voice by then to reach Naruto, "I told you to control your emotions!"

Naruto stopped his struggle and slowly calmed down. Maki and Kakashi could feel the intense chakra of the nine-tails slowly disappearing, much to their relief. It would be best to avoid trying to suppress the nine-tails, even if Jiraiya had given them a chakra suppressing seal.

"He's just messing with your emotions!" Sasuke said, "Don't let him get to you!"

Hidan smirked as the Konoha ninjas tried to calm down the nine-tailed container. Indeed he was messing with Naruto's emotions and it seemed to have worked quite well. But it looks like he would only be able to do so much toying with emotions to put it to full effect.

"So, same plan as always?" Hidan said, looking back at his partner.

"Hmph… Let's just make this quick."

Kakuzu got up from where he sat and removed his Akatuski's cloak. Hidan was glad that his partner was going to get serious immediately. Normally Kakuzu would prefer to stick to his Earth techniques without summoning his other creatures.

Kakuzu stared at the Konoha ninjas ahead of him. The only ones he could safely analyze were Kakashi. Since the copy ninja was in the bingo books, he had already an idea of Kakashi's abilities and nature affinity. The fact that Kakashi's natural affinity was Lightning and a powerful user at that, Kakuzu knew it would be best to avoid fighting him with his Earth affinity.

"Kakashi, what's the plan?" Maki asked, trusting Kakashi in terms of strategies.

"We know that the scythe-wielder cannot die from Kankuro's information." Kakashi pointed out, "And he has a technique that can bind us to some twisted fate. Whatever the case, we can't ignore him completely either. The best case scenario is having a long-range fighter and someone who can remain safe from harm."

Kakashi paused for a moment and then gave his answer, "You and Sasuke will have to take him on. Sasuke is a long-range fighter due to his arsenal of Fire techniques and although I have many techniques, my chakra is far lower. And you have your shadow clones so you can remain safe from him."

Maki nodded, "Alright got it."

Naruto was still trying to keep his emotions in control but the smirk on Hidan's face was definitely taking a toll on his anger. The other Akatsuki member though was much more serious and Naruto knew he would have to not take him lightly. The two being in Akatsuki would be a testament to their power.

"Here I come, bitches!" Hidan screamed in delight, sprinting towards Naruto with his scythe drawn.

"Your opponent is me!" Maki interrupted, stepping into the immortal Akatsuki's path.

Hidan simply delivered a high-pitched laughter, swinging his scythe in an arc. Maki blocked the attack with his clone kunai and immediately delivered a kick as a counter-attack. Hidan drew back his scythe and leaped back to avoid the kick. Just as Hidan was about to prepare his next attack, another figure emerged.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

Right in front of Hidan was an extremely large fireball. The immortal Akatsuki leaped backwards and then jumped high into the air, the fireball passing through below him. However Sasuke was not going to allow Hidan any time to recover, drawing out a kunai and engaging Hidan.

"What the fuck is this?!" Hidan said in amazement, "You think you can take me on?"

Hidan swung his scythe mercilessly but Sasuke with his Sharingan anticipated the attack. The Uchiha ducked below the scythe and retaliated with his own attack. Hidan and Sasuke were engaged in a fight, both swinging their weapons with none of them connecting with the other.

"Fire release! Phoenix Flower technique!"

Multiple fireballs were fired from Maki in the direction of Hidan. The immortal Akatsuki ignored them though much to Sasuke's surprise. This allowed Hidan to gain the upper hand, delivering a powerful kick on Sasuke's chest, throwing him back. The fireball smashed on Hidan's left arm.

Hidan cringed in pain as the burns slowly faded away from his left hand, "You'll pay for that."

"The hell is wrong with him?" Maki said incredulously, "He didn't even try to avoid it."

"It looks like Kankurou is right." Sasuke pointed out, "He's not worried since he can't die."

Meanwhile Kakuzu glared at the three Konoha ninjas in front of him. The only one he was worried would be Kakashi due to his Lightning affinity but he knew nothing of the nine-tails Jinchuuriki or the pink haired girl. From his experience in battles, he knew it would be a mistake to overlook the two youngsters.

"Well then…" Kakuzu spoke, taking a quick glance at Hidan going against Maki and Sasuke, "Let's get this started."

Kakuzu arched his back forward and began channeling chakra throughout his body. The three Konoha ninjas waited for Kakuzu to make his move, not fully sure of his capabilities. After a couple of seconds, three dark-figures emerged from Kakuzu's back, each of the figures wielding a mask of different color.

"What the hell are those things?" Sakura said in disgust.

Kakashi and Naruto had no intentions of wanting to find out what they were. Naruto created several shadow clones with Kakashi close behind him. Kakuzu however seem unfazed and simply formed a simple seal. After channeling chakra, he was done with the instructions.

"Water release! Cleanse!"

"Lightning release! Shadow Beam!"

Two dark figures, one with a blue mask and another with a yellow mask immediately moved front and released their respective techniques. Kakashi and Naruto continued their run though as the water covered the ground with water. Kakashi noticed what Kakuzu's plan was an immediately hopped into the air.

"Naruto! Watch out!"

The moment the lightning beam was close to the water, Naruto realized what was going to happen. Quickly the blonde jinchuuriki ran towards the wall of the cave just as the beam of lightning made contact with water. The water was instantly electrified and would have seriously injured Kakashi or Naruto if they were still standing on it. Unfortunately Naruto's clones were not so lucky as they were easily destroyed by the lightning.

'So this is what Kankuro means by this guy having multiple elements.' Kakashi thought as he began analyzing what he could, 'He has a higher advantage over me then. Alright, time to find out more before I can properly plan an attack.'

"Naruto! You okay?" Sakura asked in a concern voice.

"Yeah, I'm…"

"You don't have time to be talking boy!" Kakuzu spat as he appeared right in front of Naruto.

Kakuzu had emerged below Naruto on the wall and bashed the wall with his hand. Kakashi noticed that Kakuzu's arm had changed into a darker color and took note of it. The power of Kakuzu destroyed the wall of the cave, forcing Naruto off the wall.

As Naruto landed on the ground, Kakuzu charged for him. Quickly drawing out a kunai, Naruto duck as Kakuzu threw a punch and missed Naruto. The young blonde ninja swung his kunai but Kakuzu side-stepped to avoid it. But Naruto hoped for that and opened the palm of his right hand, channeling chakra in it.

"Rasengan!"

Naruto thrust his arm forward and Kakuzu as an experienced ninja had knowledge of the technique. Kakuzu backed away in the nick of time; the Rasengan barely inches away from him. However as he backed away, Sakura had snuck up from behind with her fist charged.

"Die!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs.

"When did you…?" Kakuzu never got to finish as Sakura landed a thunderous blow on Kakuzu's back, sending him crashing through the ground. The crash was so powerful that Kakuzu created a small crater. Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura regrouped and waited, wondering if the Akatsuki treasurer was still alive. They could not make sure due to all the dust created from the crash.

"Is he dead?" Sakura wondered.

"I hope so. I doubt anyone should be alive after receiving a blow like that." Naruto stated plainly.

After a couple of seconds, they could see a figure emerging from the crater. Although they had expected him to be still alive, it would have been nice if Kakuzu had been defeated easily. The three Konoha ninjas now noticed that Kakuzu had darker skin transformed on all of his body.

"It seems that he survived the attack by hardening his skin." Kakashi pointed out.

Sakura gave a confused glare at the copy ninja, "What do you mean?"

"I think I understand." Naruto whispered, "Just like how he was able to smash the wall earlier. So that means he's able to harden himself as hard as diamond."

Kakashi nodded, "But I think I know of a way to combat that skin."

"You got a plan?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded, "If I can find an opening that is. Those shadow figures that hangs around him is not going to be easy to ignore."

As if on cue, three of the dark-figures flew down on them. The red mask released multiple fireballs while the yellow mask blasted a beam of lightning. The blue mask made no shots but moved around, probably prepared to attack when it could find the opportune moment to strike.

Meanwhile, Hidan was on a rampage as he swung his scythe like a madman. Sasuke and Maki could not spot an opening and with the huge scythe, it would be too risky to attack head in. Hidan was laughing maniacally and his eyes had the demand for blood to be spilled.

"Come on you cowards! Fight me!" Hidan taunted and continued laughing.

Finally as Hidan nearly slashed Maki's left shoulder, Maki moved close enough and stabbed his clone kunai deep into Hidan's chest. Hidan cursed in pain as a small amount of blood spilled through the wound. Maki immediately jumped away, Hidan's counter-attack nearly slicing him. Before Hidan could commit to any more attacks, the clone kunai took active and created a shadow clone.

"What the in the actual fuck?!" Hidan exclaimed as the clone stunned Hidan by delivering a thunderous blow to Hidan's gut.

"Chidori!"

With Hidan stunned, Sasuke took this as a chance to initiate. Sasuke chakra sprinted towards Hidan with unbelievable speed and as when he reached the immortal Akatsuki, the Uchiha heir thrust the chidori deep into Hidan's chest, exactly where the heart should be located.

"ARGHHH!" Hidan cried in pain.

Sasuke remained where he was but Hidan was still standing, not dead after receiving a murderous technique. By now Sasuke realized the danger he was in and immediately pulled his arm back but it was too late. Although in deep pain, Hidan drew his scythe and sliced Sasuke's chest. Sasuke backed away on time and suffered no major wounds but there was a small cut on his chest.

Hidan began chuckling and looked at his scythe drenched with some blood, "Finally… I have everything I need! You shall die n…"

"Fire release! Death Whip technique!"

The pink haired Jounin released a stream of wire that moved at an insane speed while moving in a zigzag pattern. Before Hidan could even absorb the blood, the stream of fire smashed on Hidan's right side of his body. After the whip of fire had landed, it began burning Hidan and the immortal Akatsuki quickly put out the fire.

"That's what you get when you talk so much." Kakuzu commented on.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Kakuzu merely grunted as a response and concentrated back to his fight. The experienced Akatsuki warrior had to admit that the three were doing a fine job to last this long, despite the fact that he had been throwing high level elemental techniques on them.

Sakura had noticed earlier that casting a Genjutsu was useless on those dark-monsters so all she had going was healing techniques and her monstrous strength. For now, Sakura would just have to be on her toes and only strike when it was safe for her. As the team's only medic-nin available, she could be the only one that could save lives.

Naruto formed a seal, "Shadow replication technique!"

Three clones of Naruto appeared by his side and all four Naruto's headed for Kakuzu. The treasurer of Akatsuki prepared himself and called for his three other dark-figures to aid him. Two of the clones leaped into the air but Kakuzu already thought of an attack.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

The two clones were easily smothered in flames and destroyed. Only the original and a clone remained but they were close enough to Kakuzu to force the treasurer of Akatsuki not rely on his dark-figures or he would be caught in the attack as well.

"You're mine!" Naruto declared as he engaged Kakuzu.

Kakuzu easily evaded a punch thrown at him, "You're too young to be saying things like that boy!"

By this time, Kakashi had appeared behind Kakuzu with a Raikiri in the palm of his right hand, "You forgot about me!"

Kakuzu grinned, "That's where you're wrong, Hatake Kakashi!"

From Kakashi's left and right, the yellow and blue mask figures had emerged. With Kakashi close to thrusting his Raikiri into Kakuzu, he could not avoid the attack altogether. Just as he was inches from Kakuzu's exposed back, a blast of water and beam of lightning reached Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out.

"It's okay!" Kakashi responded but his left arm was slightly burnt from the beam of lightning, "Sakura… I need some help here."

Sakura obeyed immediately and went for Kakashi's aid. She instantly poured healing chakra on Kakashi's left arm, slowly curing the burns. Kakashi had to admit that he was a little careless and had thought that the dark-figures would not hit him on time.

"Not bad kid." Kakuzu commented, "For a young ninja, to be able to keep up with me is good."

Naruto made no reply as he and several clones all simultaneously attacked Kakuzu. However, the treasurer of Akatsuki's experienced allowed him to easily read Naruto's attacks and his dark-figures were blasting the clones. The red-mask figure released a fireball forcing the original clone to jump back. Naruto quickly formed a number of seals.

"Wind release! Rapier Blade technique!"

Instantly a powerful blast of air current came forth from Naruto. Kakuzu immediately hardened his skin at the nick of time, feeling a large cut piercing his right thigh despite his hardened skin. Kakuzu grunted in pain and took a step back. As Kakuzu was now concentrating on Naruto, Kakashi took the opportunity to strike.

"Lightning release! Wrath of Exodus technique!"

Several bolts of lightning were released from Kakashi and two of them blasted on Kakuzu while another blasted on a dark-figure. Kakuzu grunted in pain as the lightning travelled all over his body, electrocuting him. Kakuzu had several burnt marks on his body now despite his hardened skin and his temper was increasing.

Finally Kakuzu had enough. With the small amount of space within the cave, he needed a much bigger field to truly destroy the Konoha ninjas. He then poured a large amount of chakra into the blue-mask monster.

"Water release! Canon Blast technique!"

The dark-figure sporting the blue mask moved forward and released a powerful wave of water. The original Naruto immediately got out of the way but the clones were not so lucky. The blast of water was so powerful it destroyed the wall of the cave. With no balance, the roof of the cave began to collapse, boulders and rocks falling to the ground.

"Goddamn it Kakuzu!" Hidan exclaimed as he jumped out of the way from a rock nearly smashing him into a pancake.

"Watch out!" Maki warned as several more boulders began crashing down.

***Forest, a few miles away from the Akatsuki hideout***

Nara Shikamaru and Temari were hiding behind a tree from the three Reapers. The three Reaper ninjas were extremely aggressive, not allowing Temari or Shikamaru a moment to even attack. They had been on the defensive in the fight and they were finally able to conceal themselves to gain some momentum.

"Okay, those three are definitely at least elite Jounin level." Temari whispered, "I don't think we can beat them with just you and me."

Shikamaru took a peek to make sure they had not found them, "Heh, I honestly didn't expect them to know the mechanics of my Shadow Bind technique. That guy by the name of Yamui seems to be a missing nin of Konoha so he's a problem to me."

Temari sighed as she wiped away some blood made from a cut earlier, "So do you have any plans?"

Shikamaru shook his head in frustration, "Not really. I don't really have an idea of what the other two can do. I know the leader seems to be familiar with Kenjustu while Yamui has an affinity for Wind techniques. I'm not sure about the third guy but I know that…"

"He uses Earth elemental attacks." Temari finished.

Shikamaru remained silent and began to think of a strategy. For now he wanted to take the advantage of a peaceful moment before the Reapers found them. Temari took another peek from the corner of the bark and spotted Kizaki in a distance, obviously looking for them.

"Well you better hurry up." Temari whispered, "It'll only be a matter of time before they find us."

"I've got it."

***Elsewhere, dark room***

The extraction of the one-tailed demon had been extracted successfully and they had already stopped the conversation with Hidan and Kakuzu. However, the fact that Zetsu had told him that a group of Konoha ninjas were close worried him. Even if Hidan and Kakuzu were S-rank criminals, they also had a limit.

"What's wrong?" A woman asked as she noticed her partner's concerned features.

"I'm worried about Kakuzu and Hidan." The man replied, "The fact that the copy ninja, replicator and nine-tails Jinchuuriki are going after them… I wonder if they can handle it."

The woman found this amusing, "But you did ask them to capture the nine-tails if possible."

"Indeed I did. But perhaps that is asking too much of them." The man said with a small hint of concern in his voice.

"Don't worry," The woman assured her partner, "I've already made the necessary arrangements to make sure Hidan and Kakuzu will make it back safely."

The man narrowed his eyes as he glared at his partner. It seems that his partner had already known of his concern and went ahead of him to deal with the issue. It was the only reason why he trusted her most among all of the Akatsuki. After all they had known each other since they were kids now.

***Valley, destroyed grounds***

"What the fuck did you do that for?!" Hidan yelled in frustration.

Kakuzu surveyed his surroundings and smiled for the first time, "I needed more open ground." Kakuzu then turned towards Hidan, "We're going to finish this… Like how we always do."

Hidan's eyes widen in excitement, "The usual?"

Kakuzu nodded and Hidan began laughing. This action merely caused team seven to be on their guard. Whatever it was that they were planning, they probably had thought up of something. Kakashi and Maki moved to the defensive stance, prepared for any attacks.

In the valley, what was left of the cave was now rubble. There were rocks everywhere and the walls had all collapsed. This allowed them to move much more freely without any restrictions but it seems that was what Kakuzu wanted. Kakashi knew that they would have to be much more cautious now.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Sakura asked worriedly and then noticed Naruto's right arm was bleeding badly, "What happened?"

"There were some sharp rocks earlier." Naruto explained, "But don't worry. I heal quickly."

"Sakura." Maki instructed with a stern voice, "You go ahead and heal Naruto. We can't allow your injury to hinder your actions."

Naruto began to protest when Sasuke intervened, "Maki-sensei is right Naruto. Let Sakura heal you and then we can take care of these bastards!"

Naruto was still hesitant but he finally relented. Sakura began pouring green healing chakra on Naruto's injured arm while Maki, Kakashi and Sasuke prepared for the two Akatsuki ninjas.

"Alright then." Hidan grinned mischievously, "Let's finish this!"

Hidan charged forward with Kakuzu behind him. Maki and Kakashi ran forward to intercept them but just as they were close, Hidan jumped above them and dashed towards Sasuke. It was clear that Hidan wanted to deal with Sasuke first and it made sense as Sasuke was an Uchiha. His Sharingan was far superior compared to Kakashi.

"You guys are mine!" Kakuzu exclaimed, throwing a punch with his hardened skin.

Maki evaded the punch and quickly formed his seals, "Shadow replication technique!"

Five clones of Maki appeared and all took action immediately. Three of the clones headed for the dark figure with the yellow mask while the other two headed for the red mask. With this, only the blue mask remained and Kakuzu.

"I see…" Kakuzu commented, "Well going against the 'Twin Kages' will be a nice challenge."

"Don't underestimate us." Kakashi replied as his Sharingan glared at Kakuzu with intensity.

Kakuzu chuckled, "I look forward to this!"

As for Sasuke, he and Hidan were once again locked in another duel. Hidan was swinging his scythe wildly with no sense of pattern. This was easy for the last Uchiha of Konoha to read the attacks and avoid them. Hidan slammed his scythe into the ground and Sasuke easily rolled to his right, dodging the impact.

"You're too easy!" Sasuke taunted as he created a Chidori in the palm of his hand and prepared to thrust them into Hidan.

Hidan grinned, "You forget that this is a team battle!"

Sasuke was confused when he realized one of Kakuzu's dark figures had appeared from behind. The dark-figure had a blue mask and blasted a high pressured stream of water at Sasuke. Luckily with his Sharingan, Sasuke was able to roll away on time, the water nearly piercing him.

"Gotcha mother fucker!" Hidan screamed.

Sasuke turned to his left to witness Hidan's scythe inches away from him. With quick reflex, Sasuke moved out of the way as Hidan swung his scythe. The Uchiha could actually feel the scythe inches away from his face and he quickly got back to his feet. In front of him, Hidan was already chuckling as the immortal Akatsuki was looking intently as his scythe, a smile on his face.

"FINALLY!" Hidan said at the top of his voice, "I've obtained the requirements!"

Hidan then licked some small amount of red liquid on the end of his scythe. It was at this moment that Sasuke realized he had a small scratch on his right cheek, only a few centimeters across his cheek. It was a small wound but Hidan had managed to deliver a scratch.

After Hidan consumed the blood, his skin changed to a darkish color to everyone's astonishment with the exception of Kakuzu. It gave him the appearance like that of a grim reaper. For once, Sasuke actually felt fear as he stared at Hidan in front of him, looking down on him as if he was here to claim his soul.

Kakuzu chuckled at the scene, "It's useless."

Maki and Kakashi glared at Kakuzu as the treasurer uttered the words, "The Uchiha will die today."


	68. A New Power

**Hei guys, here's the new chapter :D  
Do leave a review and your thoughts :3  
I do apologize for the delay but the reason for that was because I was working on my original story with my friend. We have not published a chapter yet and it might be some time as we're still working on the world's rules, history etc etc. I will leave a link when it is published in the future.  
Next chapter, "Payback" **

**CHAPTER 68: A NEW POWER**

Yamui's frustration was growing by every passing second as he continued to search for Shikamaru and Temari. The simple fact that they were dominating the fight merely pissed him more since he wanted to be done with them. Instead all the two ninjas were doing was buying time before their death.

Unknown to the former Konoha ninja was that Shikamaru and Temari were very close by. As a matter of fact, they were just next to him hidden behind a large tree. They were holding onto their breath to not let out a single noise that would give away their hiding spot.

"Come out!" Yamui screamed in frustration, "You can't hide forever! Fight us and stop being such cowards!"

Kizaki and Takyu had already given up trying to calm him down. It was a waste of time when he was riled up so they decided to just look for the enemy on their own.

Shikamaru and Temari waited for another few more seconds before they would put their plan into action. Frankly Temari had doubts regarding Shikamaru's plan since she felt it was far too simple but then again she had seen Shikamaru's analytical ability when he fought her brother during the Chuunin exams. So she would have to simply trust him.

Yamui continued approaching the tree that Shikamaru and Temari were hiding. When Yamui was inches away, Shikamaru quickly put his plan into action. Before Yamui could even react, Shikamaru had already thrown a shadow bind on Yamui and it easily caught the former Konoha ninja.

"What…?" Yamui tried to move but it was obvious he could not.

With Yamui under Shikamaru's control, Temari had to act quickly. She only had an estimate of one second before Yamui would call for help. Temari leaped on the branch above her as silently as she could and quickly gathered chakra to her large fan.

"Wind release! Bleeding force!"

By then Yamui quickly tried to call out, "Guys! To the west, watch out!"

Kizaki and Takyu heard the calls and witnessed as the trees were being blasted out of their roots. Kizaki knew that it was impossible to outrun a technique of this magnitude so he would have to rely on Takyu to cover for the two. Takyu began forming seals quickly and when he was done, he slammed the palm of his hand on the ground.

"Earth release! Rock Shelter!"

The ground surrounding Takyu immediately surrounded Takyu and Kizaki and formed a protective dome. The wind technique blasted against the dome, cracking on some parts of the shield but it was not enough to obliterate the dome. If the technique was cast at point-blank range, there was no doubt that Takyu's protective shield would have been demolished.

After a couple of seconds, Takyu deactivated his dome and the two Reaper ninjas surveyed their surroundings. Most of the trees had been uprooted from the blast although a few trees were still standing with broken branches. They spotted Shikamaru and Temari on the other end of the field with Yamui under Shikamaru's shadow bind.

"Finally done with playing hide and seek?" Kizaki questioned while moving into an attacking stance, his katana shining brightly from the sunlight.

Shikamaru grinned, "You could say that. It's time we take you guys on now that we're on even grounds."

Kizaki had to admit that the Konoha ninja was clever. Since Yamui was familiar with the Nara family techniques, the two brats had conspired to remove Yamui from the fight as soon as possible. With Yamui under Shikamaru's grasp, Kizaki knew they had lost the advantage. So long as Shikamaru could maintain the technique, Kizaki planned to regain their advantage by breaking the bind between Shikamaru and Yamui.

"Alright, let's get to it."

***Valley, destroyed Akatsuki hideout***

Hidan was smiling with glee as he looked at the Uchiha staring back at him in confusion. He had no idea that the moment Hidan landed even a small scratch that it was already over between them. It simply excited him more to watch Sasuke's face in confusion as pain would erupt in his body.

"Let me show you what true fear is!" Hidan spoke in a terrifying manner.

Sasuke felt for the small cut on his cheek and indeed there a small amount of blood. Whatever it was Sasuke kept note that whatever Hidan's technique was, the attack earlier had somehow fulfilled his 'requirement' for something. The only question that Sasuke want answered was what the requirement was for.

Sasuke noticed that Hidan was still lost in his own little world and quickly took out his kunai and infused it with lightning. Quickly he sprinted towards Hidan with the lightning infused kunai. The immortal Akatsuki saw Sasuke coming and grinned with joy, holding up his scythe and slashing his right leg.

Sasuke screamed in pain and dropped face first, clutching his wounded leg, "What the hell?!"

Hidan laughed once more, "Yes! That's the expression I want to see!"

Maki and Kakashi watched in horror as what Kankuro had told them back then was true. Sasuke had somehow fallen under the technique that binds Hidan and Sasuke as one. This would mean any attack done to Hidan would result in the same on Sasuke.

"It's no use." Kakuzu told the two Jounins, "There is no way that Uchiha kid will survive this encounter."

"You bastard!" Maki shouted in anger, "You won't get away with this!"

Kakuzu chuckled as if he had been told a joke, "I believe we already have."

Maki cursed loudly and headed in for the fight. Kakashi would have joined in but his main priorities were now on how to secure Sasuke's life. Thankfully Hidan was simply toying with time, laughing at Sasuke's current predicament. Kakashi saw that Naruto was close to getting completely healed.

Sasuke checked on his injured leg and saw a large cut across with blood still seeping out of the large wound. He looked at Hidan and saw that the Akatsuki ninja was still grinning at him with a crazy look. Whatever the technique was, Sasuke knew he had to remove himself from the bind he had with Hidan.

"Now taste this!" Hidan screamed.

Hidan took out a retractable spear and quickly plunged it deep into his shoulder. Sasuke screamed in pain as the same wound appeared on his shoulder, blood pouring out of the wound.

"SASUKE!" Naruto called out but Sakura stopped him from moving so she could finish the last bits of healing Naruto.

"Yes…" Hidan said in relief, "That arrogant attitude of yours… Let me see it again! Oh yess…."

"Damn it!" Maki cursed.

"You should be concentrating on your fight!" Kakuzu taunted, unleashing a wave of black threads at Maki, "Let me take your heart!"

Maki evaded the threads with difficulty but this allowed Kakuzu to take advantage of the situation. One of the black-figures with a yellow mask appeared behind Maki and unleashed a beam of lightning. Maki jumped into the air but another dark-figure was also up there. The red mask figure unleashed several fireballs at Maki.

"Shadow replication technique!"

The clone appeared and reacted immediately; grabbing the original Maki and throwing him back towards the ground. Instantly the clone was engulfed by the flames, dispelling it instantly. Maki landed safely but it was not over. Kakuzu threw his threads at him, just inches away and it would be impossible to use the same tactic again.

Fortunately for the pink haired Jounin, there was a clone kunai on the ground to the right a few meters away. As the threads were inches away and about to grab hold of the Jounin of Konoha, Maki quickly released the seal suppressed in the clone kunai and created a clone.

"Second release!"

Instantly Maki swapped places with the original clone but a huge chunk of chakra was used. Thankfully Maki developed this new technique some time back but the huge amount of chakra required forced Maki to only use the technique only when he was forced to.

One advantage of the technique was that there was no way to tell that Maki had switched places with the clone so it was as if Maki had not replaced himself with the clone. Kakuzu's threads grabbed hold of the clone and Kakuzu quickly brought the clone near and pierced through the clone's chest, immediately dispelling it.

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes in amusement, "Very interesting…" Kakuzu gave a quick look at Kakashi, "Your team mates are not going to survive if you keep wasting time, copy ninja Kakashi."

Kakashi knew Kakuzu was right as the treasurer of Akatsuki continued attacking Maki. However for now he needed to analyze what he knew regarding Hidan's ability.

Kakuzu was pressuring Maki badly as the pink haired Jounin was on the defensive, creating several clones but having them obliterated quickly by Kakuzu and his black-figured monsters. Maki simply had to hold on his own until Kakashi was done.

Kakuzu found an opening when Maki jumped away from a lightning beam. Kakuzu rushed forward and threw a punch. Maki barely avoided the fist and Kakuzu quickly threw his threads at Maki, holding him in place. Maki cursed and tried to escape but the threads were too powerful.

"Your heart is mine!" Kakuzu roared victoriously, pulling Maki to him.

"RASENGAN!"

On the right of Kakuzu, Naruto dashed towards the treasurer of Akatsuki with a ball of chakra in the palm of his right hand. Kakuzu's eyes widened in surprise and quickly jumped away, forcing to release the captured Maki. Naruto helped his teacher back to his feet as the two prepared to fight Kakuzu.

"These interruptions are getting annoying." Kakuzu declared, his voice growing impatient.

"Don't worry…" Naruto taunted, "You're going to need to focus on me now."

Meanwhile in Sasuke's case, he was still waiting for a way to remove himself from his current predicament. So far he had two wounds but thankfully they were not major wounds. Hidan picked his retractable spear and pointed it at his chest, glaring at Sasuke with a cold smile.

"Now… taste death!" Hidan declared.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger and also at fear. His Sharingan eyes darted from right to left in hopes to find any solution to escape his fate. He could see Kakashi wanted to strike but he could not do anything since any attacks would result the same on Sasuke. Then Kakashi made his final decision.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi called out, "Use it!"

Sasuke was at first confused but then he realized what the copy ninja meant, "But…"

"Just do it!" Kakashi ordered, "We have no choice!"

Sasuke quickly obeyed and poured chakra to his eyes. He and Kakashi had only done this recently and unlocked the eyes recently. After two seconds Sasuke was done with it. He opened his eyes and his Sharingan was different. Just like his older brother, Sasuke along with Kakashi had unlocked their respective Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Those eyes…" Kakuzu muttered.

Hidan had not noticed anything but Kakuzu definitely had. In his lifetime he had fought his own handful of Uchiha ninjas but he had only met one Uchiha that had unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan and that was Uchiha Itachi, his fellow Akatsuki member. So to see another with the same eyes and the power that Itachi had with those eyes was not to be taken lightly.

Before Kakuzu could even warn Hidan, Sasuke had already taken action, "Tsukuyomi!"

Instantaneously Hidan was taken into another world. Hidan found himself strapped onto a table, his hands and legs tied. Hidan knew he was in a Genjutsu since the environment was different. There were mountains in the distance and the skies were blood red in color.

"What the fuck is this place?!" Hidan exclaimed while trying to escape but failing to do so.

It was then that Hidan realized he was surrounded by a large number of Sasuke. It was as if he had created shadow clones but Hidan had not heard any clones being created. Besides this was a Genjutsu so he simply had to remember that this was his mind.

"For the next 48 hours," All of the Sasuke began, "We will stab you continuously. In this world I control space and time so until I release the technique, you will suffer."

Hidan was accustomed to pain but the moment all of the Sasuke stabbed him, the pain was not of usual pain. It was then that Hidan remembered that Sasuke was controlling this technique so he could do anything. For the next few hours, Hidan screamed in pain while being unable to escape from the world of hell that Sasuke had created.

"When did Sasuke develop the Mangekyou Sharingan?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"A few months back." Kakashi explained, "I was able to gather some information from the archives and found that there was one way to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan. One was through training or the other was… through an emotional trauma."

"So which one was it?" Sakura questioned but Kakashi gave no answer.

Back in reality, only a second had passed since Sasuke had casted one of the most powerful Genjutsu available to the Uchiha. Hidan's knees weakened and he dropped on the ground, panting heavily. However because of that Hidan had stepped out of the sacrificial circle and hence cancelled the bind with Sasuke.

"It seems that Genjutsu does not affect the two of you." Kakashi pointed out.

Sasuke groaned in pain and clutched his right eye, "Sakura… I'm going to need some help here."

"On it!"

Sakura immediately began healing the wounds on Sasuke's leg and his shoulder. For now the horror was over and Hidan was temporarily disabled. Sasuke was lucky that he had managed to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan but from what Kakashi had researched, the use of the Mangekyou would deteriorate the user's eyes so it would be best to avoid using it too much. Not to mention that Sasuke had only unlocked Tsukiyomi and even then it was not as potent compared to his older brother.

'For now we can assume that the bind between Sasuke and Hidan had been broken.' Kakashi thought, 'And from what I know, it seems that the blood Hidan obtained earlier was one of the "requirements" to begin the technique. I guess for now we'll have to do our best to avoid letting Hidan obtain any blood from us.'

The battle between Kakuzu with Naruto and Maki was proving to be too much for Kakuzu to handle. Although he still had four hearts in total and three of them were striking them, the two Konoha ninjas were experts in the use of shadow clones. Not to mention that Naruto was the nine-tails Jinchuuriki so he had an unbelievable amount of chakra so he was able to create a large number of clones.

"That stupid idiot!" Kakuzu grunted while dispelling a Maki clone, "He talks too much and never finishes his job!"

Maki created seals and gathered chakra to his throat, "Fire release! Great dragon technique!"

Maki released a giant sized flame in the shape of a great dragon. Kakuzu quickly set two seals and the dark-figure with the blue mask immediately stood in front of the flames and released a huge wave of water, smothering the flames. Maki immediately tossed another clone kunai but Kakuzu hardened his skin and the clone kunai bounced off Kakuzu as if he was a wall.

"Release!"

Instantly a shadow clone appeared but Kakuzu acted quickly, destroying the clone. Naruto used the short distraction to his advantage, appearing from Kakuzu's behind with a Rasengan in the palm of his right hand. Kakuzu was quick though and grabbed the Naruto's palm and tossed him away, Naruto crashing through the ground.

"You're all too weak to take…" Kakuzu taunted but the sound of a large cackling sound stopped him from finishing his sentence.

"RAIKIRI!"

Kakuzu looked to his right to find Kakashi was right next to him with his famous killing technique, the lightning cutter. Unable to avoid the outcome, Kakuzu felt the ball of lightning piercing through his body, right where his heart was located.

"You're actually able to break through my hardened skin…" Kakuzu spat, "As expected of the copy ninja. Your prowess with the Lightning element is just like that in the bounty; extremely high."

Kakashi said nothing and Kakuzu continued , "To think… that you Konoha brats could actually…" Kakuzu muttered in pain and spilled some blood from the corner of his lips.

"I don't know how old you are… Nor the experience you have…" Kakashi spoke slowly, "But you should know that the younger generation will always surpass the older generation!"

Kakuzu grunted once more and actually chuckled for a while. Kakashi pulled out his arm forcefully and the treasurer of Kakuzu finally dropped down on the ground, most likely dead. Kakashi was panting lightly now but at least for them the situation was in their favor. The only one they had to take care of was the immortal Hidan and Kakuzu's pesky dark-figured dolls.

"Heh, I never thought to see Kakuzu to lose two of his hearts in just a day." Hidan said in a weak voice. The Genjutus still had its effects on Hidan.

"I'm surprised you're still conscious." Sasuke pointed out, "You're tougher than you look; to actually still remain conscious after Tsukuyomi." Sasuke was already healed by this time thanks to Sakura's healing techniques.

Hidan smirked weakly, "I won't go down… Not to a fucking Genjutsu anyway…"

"It's not like you can do anything." Naruto exclaimed, "Your partner's dead and you can barely stand. This is all for Gaara!"

Hidan grinned in response, "Gaara? You mean the pathetic excuse of a Kazekage? Don't make me laugh kid. He deserved to die for being such a weak ninja!"

Naruto growled in anger and delivered a blow with all his might, Hidan falling back and a black mark where Naruto's fist landed. However Hidan simply laughed in return, enjoying Naruto's reaction. Maki, Sasuke and Sakura simply stood where they were as Naruto continued pummeling Hidan to the ground in anger.

"Kakashi, what do we do with those black monsters?" Maki questioned while looking at the three dark monsters of Kakuzu. The three dark-figures were not responding since their master had died. The copy ninja had not heard anything though.

"Kakashi?" Maki repeated in a louder voice. Kakashi snapped out of his thoughts and faced Maki.

"Yeah… We… we should destroy them." Kakashi agreed but he was still lost in his thoughts.

'What did the scythe-wielder mean?' Kakashi thought, 'Kakuzu… lose two of his hearts? I know I pierced his heart with Raikiri and if Kankuro was right that Gaara had killed him once… It means that Kakuzu has a number of hearts?'

Kakashi stared at Kakuzu's lifeless body and held no doubt that Kakuzu was indeed dead. There was no way Kakuzu would have survived Raikiri that had penetrated through the heart.

Meanwhile Naruto was finally finished with Hidan, panting heavily and his fists were drenched in Hidan's blood. Hidan's face had several marks where Naruto punched him but Hidan cared little for them. He could not die and pain was a normal thing for him in his rituals.

Hidan spat some blood on the ground next to him and looked at Naruto in the eye, "Are you done? Heh so what difference does any of this make? Your friend is still dead… And he isn't coming back!"

Before Naruto could go on another rampage, Sasuke held Naruto's left shoulder. Naruto turned back at Sasuke and the Uchiha simply shook his head. There was no point in beating on Hidan because what he said was true. Gaara was dead and there was nothing that could bring him back. Naruto clenched his fists in anger but he stood up and walked away.

"What should we do with him?" Sasuke enquired.

Maki approached Hidan and stood next to Sasuke, "We should bind him and bring him back to Suna or Konoha. I'm sure he'll have valuable information regarding the Akatsuki."

Hidan made no attempt to escape while Maki and Sasuke prepared to apprehend Hidan for interrogation. The immortal Akatsuki was simply waiting for his partner to act and deep inside; he knew it was just a matter of time before Kakuzu would return.

Kakashi was still in deep thought when suddenly a dark-figure with a red mask moved quickly. Everyone except Hidan had not expected the dark monsters to move so none reacted as the red masked figure neared Kakuzu's body and then forcefully entered the body.

All of team seven stood where they were, watching as slowly but surely Kakuzu began moving once more. Kakuzu finally got back to his feet as if nothing had happened earlier, the hole on his chest created by the Raikiri ignored. Kakashi had his eyes wide open, unable to believe what he was witnessing.

"Impossible…" Kakashi whispered to himself.

"Nothing is impossible." Kakuzu declared, "It has been some time since I lost two hearts. I will make sure to stock them back with yours!"

Kakuzu formed a seal and instantly the two remaining dark-figures, a yellow and blue mask respectively, appeared by the sides of Kakuzu. The treasurer of Akatsuki then formed two more seals and concentrated chakra to his back. After a bit of a struggle, a large amount of black threads appeared from Kakuzu's back.

Kakuzu looked at all of the shocked faces of team seven and chuckled, "I'm not done yet!"

With the large threads dancing around on his back, Kakuzu formed one last seal to prepare for his final transformation. The two remaining dark-figures entered Kakuzu's back once more but the two masks were now planted on Kakuzu's shoulder. The yellow mask on Kakuzu's right shoulder and the blue mask on Kakuzu's left shoulder.

"It looks… like… you're serious… finally…" Hidan declared.

"Stay out of this Hidan. You'll just distract me." Kakuzu ordered.

Hidan gave a hoarse laugh, "Fucking bastard! If it wasn't for the after-effects of the Genjutsu, I'd still have joined the fun. But I can't even stand."

Kakuzu grunted in response and prepared himself to face off against team seven. Sakura was still shocked that the man Kakashi had just killed was still standing. It was illogical that Kakuzu was still alive and there was no explanation for it.

"I've got it." Kakashi said suddenly.

"What?" Maki and Naruto asked together.

"I know why he's still alive." Kakashi answered, "I killed him earlier but the only reason why he's still alive is because he apparently has in total, 5 hearts. He lost one heart in his fight against Gaara and I destroyed one of his hearts earlier. The only way to kill him permanently is to destroy all of his hearts."

"Are you saying that his other hearts are those masked monsters?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"That is my guess." Kakashi concluded.

For a moment there was silence but finally Kakuzu laughed, "You are indeed the copy ninja Hatake Kakashi. Only a ninja of your caliber could discover the trick of my technique. Yes, I have a total of five hearts taken from ninjas that I have fought in the past. Each heart I obtain will increase my lifespan and Kakashi… I will obtain your heart to replace the heart you have destroyed!"

Kakashi released a sigh and held onto a brand new kunai. At least now team seven knew how to stop Kakuzu. The only problem now was that they had to kill him at least three times and Kakuzu was not going to give them that chance. Especially with the threads around Kakuzu that was waiting to grab the closest victim for their heart.

***Destroyed forest***

Kizaki lunged his katana forward but Temari backed away at the right time. Kizaki knew that Temari was a long-range fighter and would wish to create space between the two. Kizaki sprinted forward, engaging Temari quickly. Temari blocked a katana attacked close to her neck and Kizaki attacked once more, not allowing Temari any sort of counter-attack.

"Release me already!" Yamui screamed.

Shikamaru was using Yamui as his puppet, controlling Yamui to confront Takyu. The former Iwagakure ninja could do little to help Yamui from the shadow bind. However Shikamaru was also worried because he could only hold onto his shadow bind technique for a maximum of at least six minutes. He would have to think of something quickly before his time ran out.

Unfortunately for Shikamaru his luck ran out. Out of nowhere a kunai wrapped with an exploding tag landed by his feet and forced Shikamaru to jump away, the kunai exploding a second later. As the dust cleared, Shikamaru realized he was not alone.

"This… is not good…" Shikamaru muttered.

Before Shikamaru were six newcomers. All six of them had a headband with a scratch across their home village. All six were definitely Reapers and they had arrived to reinforce the Akatsuki.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kizaki spoke in surprise.

"We got orders from Akatsuki and our leader." One of the newcomer said, "We're here to help."

Kizaki grinned, "That's just perfect."

**One last side-note. Before anyone tries to say that there is no other way for an Uchiha to gain the Mangekyou except through killing a best friend or passed down, note that this is my story and this is how Sasuke is able to gain the Mangekyou. :D**


	69. Payback

**Hei guys, sorry for the long delay. Been busy with some stuff, still working with my friend on the story and also had exams + reports on Uni but now is the holidays so I'm free :D**

**Next chapter, "Report & Break"**

**CHAPTER 69: PAYBACK**

Nara Shikamaru and Temari had their backs on each other, realizing that they were currently in a terrible predicament. Six of the newcomers along with the three that they had been fighting were a total of nine Reaper ninjas and they stood no chance.

"Kizaki, you and your team go and see what's holding the two Akatsuki bastards up." The newcomer, apparently the leader ordered, "We'll handle these two."

Kizaki nodded and gestured for his team to follow him as he left the scene. Shikamaru began going through some strategies to escape their current situation. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, the six Reaper ninjas were not going to allow Shikamaru any breathing time, all six immediately jumping towards them.

"Shikamaru, look out!"

One of the Reaper ninjas had snuck up behind the pair but Temari was not the target. Shikamaru guessed that they must have took note that Shikamaru with his shadow binding was much more dangerous so they decided he was their main priority. The Nara prodigy merely welcomed the attack, prepared to reveal to the enemies why he was an elite Jounin of Konoha at such a young age.

"Shadow Bind technique!"

The Reaper ninja on the back immediately got caught. Shikamaru jumped back and the five Reaper ninjas stopped for now, realizing that attacking the two ninjas without a plan would be suicidal. They knew Shikamaru was an intelligent ninja so they needed to be much more cautious.

"You're good kid." The leader commented, "You always think one step ahead. The question is, is that enough to save you?"

The leader actually smiled and that made Shikamaru more cautious of what the leader meant. Behind Shikamaru, the young Nara could hear the Reaper ninja caught began laughing. Shikamaru looked behind him and his eyes widened in shock.

Despite getting caught by the shadow bind technique, he revealed below his outfit he had several explosive tags placed on his body. Out of all the situations Shikamaru had expected, this was not on his list. Before Shikamaru could release the bind and escape, the man released the seal.

"RELEASE!"

All the tags on the man's body immediately exploded in an instant and since Shikamaru was the closest to him, he received some of the blast. Shikamaru was thrown across the field like a rag doll, thrashing on the ground several times by the sheer force of the blast

Shikamaru groaned in pain, his left arm drenched in a sea of blood. It was completely useless now and he could not move it nor could he even feel anything on it. Temari immediately ran towards Shikamaru to help him but two of the Reaper ninjas stood in her way, blocking her path.

"How… How could you… Your own comrades…" Shikamaru questioned in a weak voice.

The leader laughed at Shikamaru's ignorance, "He gladly paid for his life so long it was for the success of the mission… And also to eliminate Konoha scums like you."

Shikamaru grinned in pain, "That's… messed up…"

"Doesn't matter, does it?" The leader responded as he revealed a kunai, "You'll die today."

Shikamaru tried to get back to his feet but his body refused to cooperate. The leader took his time, walking slowly towards the vulnerable Nara prodigy. For the first time in his life, Shikamaru actually thought he would die. Normally he would have something up his sleeve but the sudden suicide was not something he was prepared for.

"Die…"

The leader raised the kunai and went for the kill. Shikamaru shut his eyes as he waited for death to claim him. However it never came and Shikamaru opened his eyes to discover why. In front of him there were three Konoha ninjas, two of them he immediately recognized.

"Izumo-san… Kotetsu-san…"

"You did well on your own kid." Kotetsu said, helping Shikamaru up.

"How… What…?"

"We saw an explosion on our way towards Suna," Izumo explained, "Luckily we chose to investigate what it was or we would have skipped past you."

The leader of the Reapers realized that the situation was definitely not on their favor now. Had he anticipated reinforcements on Konoha's part, he would not have recklessly allowed his comrade to throw away his life. Even though it was still a five against four of them, the leader had no doubts that the new Konoha ninjas were at least Jounin level.

"So these are the Reapers that I have heard so much about." Yamato exclaimed, "Well now that they're finally in the open, time to show you the strength of Konoha's elite!"

***Destroyed Akatsuki hideout***

Kakashi backed away as a stream of high pressured water was aimed at him, barely avoiding the attack. Since Kakuzu had merged himself with the yellow and blue masked creatures, his combinations of the elemental attacks were powerful and nearly impossible to approach safely. Even when one of team seven managed to close the distance, the threads were there to defend it. In a way, Kakuzu had managed to establish the perfect offense and defense.

"What do we do Kakashi?" Maki asked, standing next to the copy ninja.

Kakashi remained silent, a rare occurrence with the copy ninja. Maki's frustration increased with the lack of strategies to defeat the Akatsuki monster. It was impossible that a man could store of to five lives and another immortal. It made the pink haired Jounin wonder what other monsters the Akatsuki had within its ranks.

"Your attacks are futile!" Kakuzu roared, throwing a beam of lightning at Sasuke.

Sasuke rolled on the ground as he avoided the attack and infused a kunai with lightning, immediately releasing the kunai. Before the lightning-infused kunai could hurt Kakuzu, the treasurer of Akatsuki allowed one of his threads to grab the kunai and quickly hurled it away from danger.

Naruto and Sakura attacked together and Kakuzu's main priority was Sakura. He had seen her monstrous strength and if he got hit by one, he knew it was over. Sakura ran straight for Kakuzu but before Kakuzu could attack, the pink haired girl stopped in her tracks and smashed the ground beneath her. The impact of her blow shook the earth, causing Kakuzu to control his balance, allowing Naruto to strike from above.

"Rasengan!"

Kakuzu had no problems retaliating against the incoming Naruto. With the nine-tailed demons fox, Kakuzu knew that Naruto would recover quickly so he planned to destroy Naruto to the point it would be impossible for him to continue in the fight.

A large wave of water and a beam of lightning blasted out of the blue and yellow mask respectively, all aimed at the oncoming Naruto. Because the blonde ninja was within range of the Rasengan, it was impossible to avoid the attack. The wave of water blasted Naruto away and the lightning made contact with the water soon after, electrocuting Naruto.

Unfortunately for Kakuzu, it was a clone and Kakuzu immediately realized his mistake. The actual Naruto had snuck Kakuzu from behind with a Rasengan in the palm of his right hand. Kakuzu reacted immediately, throwing his threads at Naruto and managing to grab hold of Naruto's wrist before it could make contact.

"Just… a little more!" Naruto struggled to close the gap but the threads were far stronger.

"Nice try brat!" Kakuzu roared, "But you're mine now!"

Before Kakuzu could grab Naruto's heart, he was taken to another world. His vision had failed him; darkness surrounded him with demonic figures laughing at him. With his vast experience, the treasurer of Akatsuki knew he was in a Genjutsu and immediately dispelled the technique, transferring him back to reality.

Naruto had released himself from the vines by then and immediately released a wave of shurikens and kunai all aimed at Kakuzu. Those were of no threat to Kakuzu until Kakashi entered the picture, throwing a number of hand seals at lightning speed.

"Lightning release! Fingers of Destruction!"

From the tips of Kakashi's fingers, a couple of lightning flashes gushed out. Each of them then made contact with the shurikens and kunai that Naruto threw, infusing the basic weapons with lightning elements, instantly transforming the weapons to a large threat to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu growled in anger, "Don't underestimate me!"

Despite his increased size ever since fusing with the two mask and the large threads protruding out of his body, Kakuzu was still incredibly agile. Even though the weapons covered a large area, Kakuzu quickly sped to his left, avoiding all of the weapons thrown at him.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball technique!"

Maki released a gigantic fireball towards Kakuzu from his side but Kakuzu reacted quickly, his blue mask throwing out a large wave of water to neutralize the large flames. As steam appeared due to the two techniques cancelling one another, Sasuke took the opportunity.

"Chidori!"

Sasuke used the steam to his advantage, sprinting towards Kakuzu with his Sharingan activated. The young Uchiha was still a little weakened from his use of the Mangekyou earlier but he could still continue on. With the Sharingan, Sasuke had the advantage of maneuvering himself through the steam.

Kakuzu too knew that he was blind within the steam and was extremely vulnerable from all attacks. However this meant that his enemies too were blinded and would not attack without any sort of vision. The only logical choice for that would be the young Uchiha as he had the eyes to do so. It was either him or the copy ninja.

With that in mind, Kakuzu immediately began swinging his threads around him in a random order. A couple of seconds later, he could hear the lightning technique that was similar to Kakashi and knew Sasuke would attack him. By only listening to the sound, he swung his thread and it made contact, smashing Sasuke by the ribs.

Sasuke grunted in pain as he was thrown on the rocks, scratching himself by the arms. Sasuke dispelled the Chidori and Kakuzu finally appeared once the steam dissipated. Team seven regrouped to come up with another way to attack the treasurer of Akatsuki.

"Help me up you fucker!" Hidan called from where he was left, still on the ground and unable to move from the Tsukuyomi.

"You'd just be excess baggage." Kakuzu answered, "I don't need anyone pulling me down."

Hidan released a weak laugh, "Hah, you can barely take them on. You've already lost two of your hearts and it'll be only a matter of time before they get your other two."

Kakuzu glared at his partner, "Even if I needed your help, you're currently a vegetable. You can't even move."

As if to challenge Kakuzu, Hidan made an attempt to get back to his feet but the effects of the Tsukuyomi was too powerful and he dropped back on his back, grunting in annoyance. Kakuzu merely grunted to point out that he was right; Hidan could not involve himself in this fight any longer.

Kakashi analyzed the current situation, trying to figure out a strategy to defeat the monster. It was nearly impossible to attack Kakuzu at close range but the Chidori, Raikiri, Rasengan and Fire Lance were all high level techniques that were melee. If they could not penetrate through the thick threads, it was impossible to reach any of his hearts.

"If we can't destroy his heart… We can still trap him in a Genjutsu." Sakura offered, "It seems he's still vulnerable to that."

"Your Genjutsu techniques aren't powerful enough to lock him in long enough." Naruto retaliated

"I didn't mean me…" Sakura responded and then looked at Sasuke, "But it seems Sasuke's new Genjutsu is far more powerful. Look at that Hidan, he can't even get up."

Kakashi shook off the idea, "Sasuke just developed the Mangekyou Sharingan and he can only use the Tsukuyomi once. If he had time to train it, he can use it more but…"

"I can use it once more…" Sasuke interjected, "No one can break out of Tsukuyomi so if I can cast it on him… We'll get him."

"It's too risky!" Maki retorted, "Besides to cast the Tsukuyomi, you need…"

"To have eye contact." Sasuke finished and looked at his teacher, "I know the risks but I'm willing to do it. It's the only way to beat him."

Naruto nodded, "If Sasuke bastard is going for it then I'm going to help him. After all, he isn't going to die until we determine who the better shinobi between me and him is!"

Sasuke grinned with Naruto returning a smile of his own. Kakashi and Maki realized that if the two future shinobi of Konoha were this determined, they had the obligation to follow through as their teacher and senior ninjas.

"Alright, we'll all have to act as a diversion until Sasuke can cast the Tsukuyomi." Kakashi decided.

Naruto and Maki reacted immediately, sprinting towards Kakuzu. The treasurer of Akatsuki prepared himself for the next attack. Kakashi would support the two but he was worried about his current supply of chakra. He had used a large number of Raikiri and high level techniques so he definitely does not have a lot of chakra left.

"Lightning Beast Running technique!"

Kakashi created a wolf with the lightning element, controlling the wolf to charge at Kakuzu. Although Maki and Naruto were threats, Kakuzu had to deal with the lightning beast first. After all, Kakashi's prowess with the lightning element was highly regarded.

Kakuzu aimed his yellow mask at the oncoming lightning wolf and fired a beam of lightning, destroying the beast. By then Maki and Naruto had neared Kakuzu and each prepared for their respective attack. Maki had been creating a set number of seals and finally finished.

"Fire Lance!"

Maki's right arm was engulfed in flames instantly, causing Kakuzu to focus his attention on Maki. The pink haired Jounin leaped into the air to deliver the killing blow but Kakuzu struck back instantly, throwing a blast of water at Maki. Maki knew that he would get hit first before he could attack so he cancelled his attack and backed away but he released a clone kunai first.

"Release!"

The clone kunai was still in midair and the clone appeared right above Kakuzu. Obviously Kakuzu merely destroyed the clone with one of his threads but this gave Naruto the time to attack. Naruto shaped a number of hand seals quickly as he neared Kakuzu.

"Wind release! Bleeding Force!"

Kakuzu immediately knew of the threat of the technique and immediately backed away and then leaped into the air to gain the largest distance away from Naruto. The young blonde ninja smirked as he feigned the move, never using the technique. Kakuzu cursed at his mistake and found someone else had already been waiting for him in the air.

Uchiha Sasuke had waited for the opportune moment and this was it. With Kakuzu so distracted by the various attacks, he had not anticipated Sasuke already waiting for him. And best of all, Kakuzu was staring directly into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke changed his Sharingan and moved into the Mangekyou Sharingan, prepared to cast Tsukuyomi.

"Watch out!"

Sasuke recognized the voice of Sakura and before he knew what hit him, Sakura had grabbed Sasuke, pulling him away from a barrage of shurikens thrown at him. Seeing that the attack was a failure, Sasuke deactivated his Mangekyou and brought it back to the three-tomoe Sharingan to preserve chakra.

Kakuzu landed back on the ground, realizing the three new comers as the Reaper ninjas that were assigned to back them up. Kizaki, Takyu and Yamui landed right next to Kakuzu with Takyu immediately carrying Hidan and regrouping back with his team mates.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Kakuzu demanded, glaring angrily at Kizaki.

"We got complications." Kizaki explained, "Konoha reinforcements are en route and we cannot hold them off. And I see that these Konoha scums here are already giving you a hard time."

Kakuzu growled in annoyance, "Fine!" He then gave a menacing glare at Naruto, "You brats are lucky! We'll settle this one day!"

With those parting words, Kakuzu left with the tree Reaper ninjas while Takyu held onto Hidan to help in the retreat. Of course Hidan was voicing his opinion of remaining at the battlefield to fight but he could not move due effects of the Tsukuyomi.

"Wait!" Naruto called and was about to give chase but Maki stopped him.

"Stop it Naruto! There's no point in chasing them."

"What do you mean?!"

"Our main objective was to retrieve Gaara." Kakashi answered, stepping in to intervene, "There is no point in giving chase to them when we can barely take on one of them single-handedly. Now with those Reaper ninjas accompanying them, we don't stand a chance on taking them."

Upon the mention of Gaara's name, Naruto immediately grew silent. He felt a tremendous guilt fall upon him due to his failure to save a friend from his capture which led to his death. Naruto walked towards Gaara's body and dropped on his knees, feeling useless as he stared at his friend's corpse.

By this time, team Gai had arrived as reinforcements along with team Yamato. Kakashi and Maki were surprised by the arrival of the two teams and Gai immediately headed to Kakashi. Shikamaru and Temari were also present but they looked exhausted from their fight earlier. As for Sasuke and Sakura, they simply stood by Naruto's side, unable to comfort him about Gaara's demise.

"Gaara… No…" Temari muttered, her voice shaking.

The sister of Gaara immediately ran towards where her brother laid and held Gaara's hands, only to feel them cold. The look on Naruto's face merely confirmed what she had feared. Temari could feel tears rolling down her cheeks immediately, the sorrow of losing a sibling bursting out of her heart.

Nara Shikamaru joined Sasuke and Sakura, watching the two in mourning for their fallen friend/sibling. Shikamaru himself had thought they would have made it to save the Kazekage but it was not to be. The Nara stared at the clouds above, releasing a long sigh.

"I see you the Akatsuki escaped." Gai spoke out loudly, "Sorry we didn't arrive earlier. We had to take care of a couple of Reaper shinobis on the way here."

"It couldn't be helped." Maki responded, "They retreated before we could even stop them anyway."

Gai glared at where Naruto was and had to ask the question, "So… The Kazekage…?"

Kakashi shook his head, answering the question of the Taijutsu specialist of Konoha. Maito Gai released a disappointing sigh, unable to accept the tragedy that Suna had faced. Not only had they lost their youngest Kazekage but to also lose a tailed beast, it was a devastating loss to Suna, especially since Gaara seemed to have gained some control over the tailed beast.

This time it was Neji that had to ask the next important question, "Those ninjas we fought earlier… Reapers… I've read about their status from past mission reports… What are they doing here?"

Gai nodded and his eyes also demanded an explanation.

"It seems that the Reapers and the Akatsuki are co-operating with one another." Kakashi explained.

"That's impossible!" Gai exclaimed, "Why would the Reapers ally with the Akatsuki? As far as we know, the Reapers despise other ninjas and only recruit ninjas that have abandoned their village!"

"For now we'll report that to Hokage-sama." Maki concluded, "But first we still have a duty to fulfill."

Everyone approached Naruto and slowly prepared themselves to carry back the fallen Kazekage. Naruto shed some tears before he resolved himself to at least honor his fallen friend by burying him at his home village. Naruto knew that that would be what Gaara would have wanted as his role of the 5th Kazekage of Sunagakure.

***A day later, Sunagakure***

Order had finally been restored in Sunagakure as the citizens of the village had finally calmed down. Although they were still demanding for the safe return of their Kazekage, they were relieved to know that Suna had already taken action. Not to mention that even Konoha had deployed a team to assist in retrieving the Kazekage.

The office of the Kazekage was still in the control of Kuyazaki until the return of the Kazekage. Kuyazaki had done a marvelous job in running the village, especially after the chaotic mess and had resumed missions for the ninjas of the village to pursue. Of course, only a small amount were sent on missions due to the current situation but Suna still needed to partake on missions or they would lose prestige as one of the major village among the 5 great powers.

Hajime Himura today was stationed at the gates along her former student, the puppeteer prodigy, Kankuro. Kankuro had recovered from his injuries just a couple of hours ago and insisted that he be allowed on patrol duty. The two were eager to receive any news about Gaara but none had arrived. Kankuro himself wanted to follow his sister but with his injuries, he knew he would only have been a burden.

When it was nearly noon, it was then that the guards on duty by the gates spotted the Konoha ninjas returning from their retrieval mission. At first many rejoiced, including Himura and Kankuro until they spotted what they were carrying. Even from the distance, they could see they were all carrying the Kazekage.

"No… It can't be…" Himura mumbled in disbelief.

Kankuro himself was at a loss of words. He simply told himself that perhaps Gaara was still unconscious but he also knew the consequence of having a tailed beast forcefully extracted from a Jinchuuriki. Other ninjas on duty immediately headed for the Kazekage tower to alert the council.

By the time team seven, team Gai and team Yamato entered the gates of Suna; even the people had heard the latest news. Everyone was gathered at the streets with grim faces, some in disbelief while others were softly sobbing about their loss.

Kuyazaki and other senior Suna council members approached the Konoha team, including even retired council members Chiyo and Ebizo. Naruto had the honor of carrying his friend and he respectfully placed him on a stretcher that the Suna medical team had placed. Naruto held his friend's cold hands one last time before he let go, joining back his team.

"What happened…?" Kuyazaki asked in a sad voice.

Kakashi shook his head in disappointment, "We were too late, Kuyazaki-dono. We didn't make it in time and… the Akatsuki successfully extracted the tailed beast from Gaara-sama."

Upon listening to the short report by Kakashi, the question had been confirmed. The people and shinobis of Suna had lost their small hope that Gaara was still alive. Even Naruto once more shed tears.

"I see…" Kuyazaki was at a loss of words, obviously distressed, "I… Then we…"

Kuyazaki stopped what he was trying to say and many knew that he too was saddened by the loss of Gaara. The council members were also worried as they had no potential candidate for a new Kazekage. They had already suffered when they lost their 4th Kazakage and were fortunate that Gaara's skills improved so much to reach Kage material.

Chiyo however was disgusted by the sight, especially at the Konoha ninjas. As a retired council member and also a former ninja of Suna, she was born during the era of war and had fought Konoha ninjas numerous times, up to the point of even hating the current Hokage for countering her use of poisons during her youth.

"Why are you drowning in sorrow?!" Chiyo spoke in disgust at Naruto, "This is Suna's problems and you cry for our loss? Do not show me that fake sadness you display in front of us!"

Naruto was surprised by the accusation and glared at the old women with tears still in his eyes, "Faking my sadness?! Gaara is my friend and I tried to save him! What did you and the rest of Suna do to even try to save him?! Huh?!"

Chiyo was stunned by the response. She had not expected a Konoha brat to actually say anything, not to mention actually calling a fellow Suna shinobi as his friend. Chiyo remained silent in shock as Naruto continued his rant.

"You all don't understand the hardships that Gaara faced but I did! I am the same as him but… Gaara suffered much longer than I… He had been in the shadows for so long… Alone… He always suffered and I wanted to help him. Even in the end, I couldn't do much… I failed to save him…"

Naruto clenched his fists after his rant and shed more tears. Chiyo was amazed that an outsider, a brat from a village that was once her enemy had gone so much to try and save their own. She had mistrusted the other villages for too long at this age.

'Perhaps I've lived for too long… The young ones in this generation have so much more to offer than the times I lived in times of war. Heh, everything I've done… they were always mistakes. But perhaps now I can do the right thing, to help the young generation obtain a future that was so different during my time.' Chiyo thought to herself.

Resolved as to what she should do, Chiyo stepped forward and approached Gaara. Naruto glared at Chiyo with distrust after the sudden outburst but Chiyo ignored the blonde ninja. Chiyo got down on her knees next to Gaara and placed both of her palms slightly above Gaara's chest.

Kankuro immediately recognized what Chiyo was doing, "That's…"

Chiyo began releasing chakra on her palms as she concentrated on the technique. Those that knew the technique that Chiyo was using remained silent, seeing the resolve that Chiyo had in her decision. Even Chiyo's brother, Ebizo had not done anything to stop his sister.

"What are you doing?" Naruto finally asked.

Without looking up, Chiyo smiled in response, "It is rare to see a ninja with your sort of thinking and personality. I'm entrusting the future of our village… to you…"

With her final words said, Chiyo finished the technique and cast it on Gaara. At first nothing happened but then suddenly, Gaara's eyes slowly fluttered open. Chiyo remained in her position, closing her eyes for the final time. Kankuro bent next to the old woman and held her as a support while he watched his younger brother return to the living.

"What… Where am I…?" Gaara muttered in confusion.

"Gaara…?" Naruto said in disbelief.

Everyone also muttered in disbelief, "Gaara-sama…?"

"He's… alive?"

"Gaara-sama…"

Gaara surveyed his surroundings and realized he was surrounded by the people of Suna, ninjas and Naruto. It was then that he recalled what had happened before everything went dark. He remembered being extracted by the Akatsuki and now, he was back in Suna.

"You're back!" Naruto cried, helping the Kazekage up.

Gaara groaned in pain, "What happened? How am I alive?"

"Chiyo-sama used 'One's own life Reincarnation' to bring you back." Kankuro explained, "That's how you're alive Gaara. However…"

Kankuro stared at the peaceful old lady in his hands and everyone knew what Chiyo had done. The old retired council member of Suna had made one of the biggest sacrifices for the good of her own village. Naruto stared at the old lady with respect, remembering the words that Chiyo had told him. She entrusted the future to him and Naruto intended to keep the promise.

"Everyone…" Gaara ordered softly, "Please… offer a prayer to Chiyo-sama…"

***Sunagakure gate, a day later***

After team seven had recovered from their mission in Sunagakure's care, they prepared for departure. They had completed their mission and had to return back to Konoha to deliver their report of the mission. Gaara, his two siblings and their former teacher were seeing the Konoha team off.

"Alright Kakashi!" Gai said with enthusiasm, "I'll head back first!"

Kakashi nodded, "Alright, be careful on your way back."

Gai merely gave his signature thumbs up before he departed towards Konoha followed by his students. Yamato gave a formal bow to his former superior and headed off to join Gai with his underlings following him.

"Naruto… Thanks for saving me." Gaara said.

Naruto grinned, "It's no problem! I'd do it for a friend!"

Gaara gave a small smile and offered his hand. Kankuro and Temari watched on as Naruto shook Gaara's hands, envisioning the future Hokage and the Kazekage as friends. It was truly a sight to behold as the two held onto their firm handshake.

"Maki… Thanks for helping us." Himura said with a smile.

Maki nodded, "its part of being a shinobi isn't it?"

Himura smiled, "Stay safe alright? I won't want this to be our last time we see each other."

Maki simply chuckled and nodded in affirmative. The two had not seen each other than two days ago and it would be some time before the two would meet again. Maki wondered when the next chance would be and by then, would Himura be taken by another. Maki simply left it to fate and see how it would go then.

"You alright Sasuke?" Kakashi questioned Sasuke.

Sasuke gave a simple nod, "I'm still not used to using Tsukuyomi but I think I'll be fine."

"Just be careful not to overuse it. I've already warned you about the consequences if you use it too much."

"Yeah I know…"

With that team seven gave a final goodbye to the Kazekage of Sunagakure before they headed off towards the desert to return to their home village, Konohagakure.


	70. Report & Break

**Alright guys here's the new update. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and do leave a review.**

**Next chapter "Sasuke's Mangekyou"**

**CHAPTER 70: REPORT & BREAK**

Team seven of Konoha arrived at Konoha two days later after their mission at Suna. Shikamaru remained in Suna to nurse his minor injuries while at the same time he also had his duties to do for the Chuunin exams. It was surprising that Shikamaru volunteered to continue with his duties after the battle but it just showed a ninja loyal to his duties and arising when needed.

It was surprising that Kotetsu and Izumo were at the gates to greet them for guard duty. The two newly appointed Jounins gave team seven a knowing grin as they too had some part to play in their latest mission. Maki gave the details needed and continued on their way.

"You guys can go ahead and do what you want." Maki said, "I and Kakashi will deal with the mission report."

"I… actually I need to be somewhere so…" Kakashi began, slowly walking away.

Maki grabbed hold of Kakashi's vest, "Oh hell no! You're coming with me for the reports!"

The three underlings of team seven watched their two superiors headed for the Hokage tower with Maki making sure that Kakashi made no other attempts to escape. Well it was not going to be easy for the copy ninja now that Maki created several clones to keep him from skipping away.

"So what are we gonna do?" Naruto asked, looking at his two team mates.

Sakura stretched for a moment before responding, "I'm actually feeling kind of tired so I'll head home and rest up."

Before Naruto or Sasuke could even utter a word, Sakura immediately left the two boys behind. After just one second of silence, Sasuke shrugged and headed off. However the blonde ninja quickly followed behind, walking next to Sasuke.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to speak with Neji for a while." Sasuke answered plainly.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Okay… why?"

"He seems to know about the Reapers." Sasuke explained, "That he read some mission reports. I'd like him to tell us about what he knows regarding these Reapers."

"Reapers?"

"When team Gai arrived to help us out, I heard Neji mention something about Reapers. Yesterday on the way back, I asked Kakashi what Neji meant and Kakashi merely told me that the Reapers were the group of ninjas that tried to stop us and also the same ones that helped the two Akatsuki members to escape." Sasuke clarified while the two continued their walk.

Naruto recalled the three ninjas that had attempted to stop them from reaching to Gaara. Fortunately Shikamaru and Temari offered to take them on in order of the rest of team seven to resume on their journey. Now Naruto at least knew the name of the group of ninjas that had tried to stop them.

The Hyuuga compound was located towards one of the far ends of Konoha and was much more secluded compared to the rest of the village. The Hyuuga clan enjoyed their privacy and preferred not to have been disturbed unless for urgent matters.

The two entered the Hyuuga compound and made their way towards the training ground. Sasuke had to admit that the Hyuuga were much more traditional-like in their decorations. Even most of the houses were traditional type of houses. Before they found Neji, the two bumped into Hinata who was surprised to see the two outsiders.

"Na-Naruto-kun! And Sasuke-kun too!" Hinata stammered in surprise.

Sasuke merely responded in a nod but Naruto gave a wide grin, "Hei there Hinata! Long time no see!"

"I… I heard that you came back recently…" Hinata spoke softly with a mad blush on her face, "You've definitely grown a lot."

Naruto nodded a number of times in response, "Yup! Well you all look different now! I can barely recognize…"

Sasuke nudged Naruto by the ribs, stopping the blonde from continuing the conversation, "Sorry Hinata. We're actually looking for your… cousin, Neji. Do you know where he might be?"

"He's training with father." Hinata responded.

Sasuke gave a small smile and began walking away.

"Hei wait for me damn it!" Naruto called. Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled at Hinata, "Alright, I got to follow that bastard. I'll see you around!"

Naruto quickly went off to follow Sasuke. The young Hyuuga princess simply gave a short wave as she watched her crush headed for the training grounds in the Hyuuga compound. She had heard Naruto had returned but she was not prepared for his sudden appearance. She had been practicing by herself on how to talk to him and convey her feelings to him.

***Hokage Tower***

Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Maki ascended the stairs that would lead to the top floor of the Hokage's office. Although it was probably unnecessary for two elite Jounins to report a mission, they felt that with the likelihood of the Reapers allying with the Akatsuki, they would need to report every single bit of information they had regarding the matter.

A number of ANBU ninjas that were patrolling the Hokage tower gave a quick nod at Kakashi. Despite being a former ANBU captain, Kakashi still had influence within the ANBU ranks. Maki was a different case as he never had been among the ANBU and the ANBU merely respect his strength but little would promise any favor if Maki asked for any.

The two arrived before the door of the Hokage and knocked on the door three times. The voice on the other side commanded them to enter and the two obeyed.

Tsunade resumed her work, reading through the number of documents on her desk as the two elite Jounins entered her workplace. The 5th Hokage had a mild headache from the workload and her eyes were getting sore from reading. She sighed and stopped her work, looking up at the two elite Jounins.

"Kakashi… Maki…" Tsunade greeted, "I've already got a brief idea of your report after the return of team Gai but I'd like to know is about the possibility that the 'Reapers' are indeed allying themselves with the Akatsuki."

Maki cleared his throat before he began, "We have no confirmation regarding that I'm afraid. However the 'Reaper' ninjas that were there indeed tried to stop us so we can assume they're allies."

"It is strange though." Kakashi added, "For years the 'Reapers' never reveal themselves in the open. They were more accustomed to attack and retreat quickly but this time, they made their actions clear."

Tsunade agreed with the assessment, "Indeed. You probably don't know but according to team Yamato and team Gai, six more 'Reaper' ninjas appeared to cover their comrades. Unfortunately they retreated shortly after so none of the teams were able to capture a 'Reaper' alive for interrogation."

"Still after all this time, why the sudden act of aggression?" Maki asked, "To suddenly ally with the Akatsuki…"

"The only thing we know about the 'Reapers' is that they wish to annihilate Konoha and Iwa. Perhaps Akatsuki have the same objectives so the 'Reapers' would benefit from this?" Kakashi said, delivering his hypothesis.

Tsunade rubbed her temples in frustration, "In any case, we'll have to be more careful of Naruto now. If it is true that Akatsuki and the Reapers are allies, it won't be a surprise that the two will act together to capture the tailed beast. That will mean you and Maki will have more trouble in protecting Naruto."

Maki and Kakashi knew that if the Reapers worked together with the Akatsuki to capture the tailed beast, it would definitely be impossible for the two elite Jounins to stand up on their own. They would probably be able to take down a few but they would die for it.

"In any case, we'll need more information regarding this matter." Tsunade concluded. "For now let me congratulate team seven on accomplishing your mission. Although you could not stop the Akatsuki from stealing the tailed beast, you at least rescued Gaara from his captive."

However to Kakashi and Maki, they felt it was not truly a success. In their written report they had explained that Gaara had actually died but it was with the sacrifice of Chiyo that Gaara was brought back to life. Maki was sure that Tsunade would recall that name. Still they had done what they could so it was with that they could say they had done their mission.

"You're both dismissed." Tsunade said, returning to her paperwork. "Just remember to not slack off. You have the next couple of days off but you never know when something might happen that will require your presence."

"Understood Hokage-sama."

"Thank you Hokage-sama."

With that both Jounins bowed in unison before they left the private workplace of the Hokage. Although Maki would normally head off towards the mission hall to receive his money for the job, the mission he just had removed him from the usual requirement to retrieve his mission pay.

"Come on, I'll treat you to some food." Maki offered. "There are some things I want to talk about."

Kakashi shrugged as he took out his favorite orange book from his pouch. "Lead the way."

***Hyuuga compound***

Naruto and Sasuke stood by the side of the Hyuuga's training grounds, spectating Neji's daily training with his uncle. Naruto was especially impressed with Neji's increased skills since the two year gap. Although they both met under bad blood, Naruto had to admit that Neji was indeed a genius by his own right.

As an elite Jounin of Konoha, Neji would have been the perfect Hyuuga icon with his tremendous skill in the Hyuuga technique. His own uncle, Hiashi whom was the current head of the Hyuuga family had to give it his all in order to be a match for the two. In other words, at such a young age Neji was almost an equal to the head of the Hyuuga family.

Of course Hinata and Neji had repaired their relationship and Neji had been assisting his cousin in training with her. By doing so, the Hyuuga princess had improved drastically over the two year period, nearly reaching Neji's current level although she was still some way off.

After Hiashi and Neji both intercepted their respective Jyuuken, Hiashi decided to finish their training.

"Alright Neji, it looks like you've got guests. We'll call it a day." Hiashi said, leaving the training grounds.

Neji nodded and gave a slight bow before turning his attention to his two unexpected guests. The Hyuuga prodigy wondered if the two were here for a social call or for other matters. They did meet briefly when team Gai had to reinforce team seven but neither had spoken much with the other.

"Sasuke… Naruto… What brings you two here?"

Sasuke took a step forward as he spoke. "I have some questions that need answers."

Neji raised an eyebrow in surprise. He thought Naruto was the one that had dragged Sasuke along but it seems that the Uchiha heir had business with him. "And what does it concern about?"

"What can you tell us about the Reapers?"

"The 'Reapers?' Hmm…"

Naruto was now all-ears as he too wanted to know something about the three ninjas that had attempted to stop them from reaching the Akatsuki's lair. Not to mention that one of them was actually a former Konoha ninja which interested him.

"I've only stumbled upon their names a couple of times in mission reports so I asked Gai about them." Neji explained.

"And what did he say?"

Neji thought for a moment before giving his answer. "Basically the 'Reapers' are a group of ninjas that had abandoned their native village. The group began after the end of the last ninja war where many of the ninjas refused to accept peace between the nations. According to Gai, they wanted to continue the war so that they could destroy the enemy village, hence forever destroying any future wars from happening."

"And what happened?" Naruto asked.

"Obviously the village council from each village ignored such outrageous remarks and proceeded with the peace proposal. Thus the 'Reapers' were born. Majority of the ninjas that abandoned their home village were Konoha and Iwa ninjas but a small number from each major village joined the 'Reapers.' That is why many assume the 'Reapers' only consist of Konoha and Iwa ninjas since the majority of them were from these two village but that's not true. The 'Reapers' basically accept any ninjas that had abandoned their village and also seek to destroy their former homes."

"So that's their objective?" Sasuke questioned. "To destroy Konoha, Iwa and the other three major villages?"

Neji shrugged. "That's what Gai and most believe. Unfortunately the 'Reapers' do not come out in the open very much. They tend to attack outposts and small group of ninjas but very little managed to encounter them and survive."

"Are they that strong?" Naruto asked.

"We're not sure of their strength." Neji replied. "The only reason very little have escaped with their lives is because the 'Reapers' only attack when the ninjas are small in number or weakened. Only then they strike."

From the information Neji had told them, Sasuke had a picture of what the 'Reapers' were. What struck him odd was that the 'Reapers' were very much in the open in their last mission.

"If that's the case, why the hell did the 'Reapers' attack us in the open in our last mission? Not to mention that one of them mentioned of stopping us from reaching the Akatsuki. Are they working together?"

"I have no answers to that." Neji said, "After all we already have very little information regarding the Reapers."

Sasuke thanked Neji for his time and proceed to leave. Naruto quickly followed behind. Neji returned to his training but what Sasuke had asked him made him wonder if the Reapers were planning something. It was too much of a coincidence that they would have attacked Konoha ninjas in the open as it was truly unlike their character.

"The Reapers huh…?" Naruto began once he was by Sasuke's side.

"Come on… Let's find Kakashi and Maki-sensei. Maybe they know something more about the Reapers."

"I was thinking the same thing!"

***Restaurant***

Maki gave his order before he finally placed his attention back to Kakashi. The copy ninja had not ordered anything for two reasons. One was simply because he was neither hungry nor thirsty and second, he refused to remove his mask in such a public place.

It had been a long time since the two actually were out on a social call. Kakashi rarely spent his free time bonding with others. Although he had a good relationship with most of the ninjas in Konoha, he refused to deepen the bond with them. He refused to be placed in the same situation where he lost his closed one ever again.

"So what is it you wish to speak about?" Kakashi asked.

Maki chuckled. "Oh I lied about that part. I just wanted someone to accompany me while I have a quick meal. It's kind of sad to be seen eating alone you know."

Kakashi sweat dropped at the response. "You…"

"Besides…" Maki continued. "You always tend to avoid most of us so I thought to at least talk with you a little."

"We've already worked together plenty of times on S-rank missions."

"Of course that's true." Maki agreed before continuing. "But those are missions. It's nice to have some time with friends."

Kakashi was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Seriously…"

"Oh come on, all I'm asking right now is that you accompany me. However you need to know that… the past is the past. You can't avoid all of us because of simply what happened."

Kakashi said nothing but he knew what Maki said was true. He refused to deepen any friendship he had because he already suffered from losing all his close friends and family. He had created the Raikiri with the purpose of protecting his comrades.

"Heh… We'll see how it goes." Kakashi merely said and once more returned to his book.

Maki grinned and it was about this time that the waitress brought Maki's dish. The pink haired Jounin quickly went for his meal and the two elite Jounin shared their time in silence.

Although Kakashi appeared to have been reading his book, he was still in deep thought. It had been a long time since he went out like this. The last time he truly enjoyed such an outing was when his sensei was still alive. Minato would normally treat the two Jounins to some Ramen, one of Minato's favorite dishes. Sadly it had been a long time ago and he and Maki were not even considered elite Jounin at the time.

Before Maki was almost finished with his meal, Sasuke and Naruto had finally located their Jounin sensei. The two had been looking for them around Konoha to ask about the Reapers and had travelled from the memorial stone up to the Hokage monument. They had not expected to find Maki or Kakashi to be eating.

Without a word both Naruto and Sasuke joined their sensei at the table. Maki was surprised by the sudden intrusion since he was so busy with his meal whereas Kakashi had already anticipated their arrival. However both elite Jounins were wondering why they had come for them.

"Kakashi… Maki-sensei… I got some questions I need some answers." Sasuke began.

"Does it concern our last mission?" Kakashi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Kakashi already had a feeling that was what the question would be related to. Ever since their training began two years ago, Kakashi could almost read Sasuke like an open book. The young Uchiha tend to now ask whatever questions he needed answers since he needed to get stronger against the much more powerful enemies such as the Akatsuki.

"What can you tell me about the Reapers?"

Maki shot up from his meal, immediately focusing on the question. Out of all the Jounins related to the Reapers, it could be said that Maki had the closest connection to the group. Sasuke and Naruto obviously noticed Maki's reaction and all eyes were now focused on the pink haired Jounin.

"Sasuke, what do you know of the Reapers?" Kakashi asked. "I doubt you came here without asking others."

Sasuke smirked at the masked ninja. "You know me too well Kakakshi."

"I wouldn't be a good sensei if I haven't figured you out some now."

Thus Sasuke explained what he knew of the Reapers with the information he received from Neji. Kakashi and Maki listened intently as every word passed through Sasuke's lips until the Uchiha was finally done. What Sasuke had told the elite Jounins were true in every sense of the word but he was missing some key details.

"I'm afraid you've already got every bit regarding the Reapers. However there is one little bit you don't know of." Maki pointed out.

"What is it?"

Maki was not surprised that the young generation knew nothing about what he and other elite Jounins knew. Maki guessed that whoever told Sasuke about this merely read mission reports that had mentioned about the Reapers. However none of the reports wrote of what Maki and other elite Jounins knew.

"You're missing out on the leader of the Reapers." Maki stated simply. "Namoto Shuya, former Konoha elite Jounin that abandoned the village after the last war. He was also one of the candidates to have been nominated to be the 4th Hokage along with Orochimaru and the Yellow Flash. None have seen him since he left the village but we do know he's now a dangerous enemy."

"Maki knew him personally too." Kakashi stated. "After all, he was the sensei of Maki after all."

Both Naruto and Sasuke were surprised by that fact. Maki shrugged it off, "Yes that's true but he was only my sensei for a year before he left the village. However in that one year, he thought me a lot. As a matter of fact he helped me create the clone kunai that I use today."

Maki was then finished with whatever he had to say. Sasuke was now satisfied with what he knew of his enemies. With the possibility that the Reapers were now a potential enemy with the emergence of Akatsuki, Sasuke wanted to be ready. However no one in Konoha knew too much about the Reapers so he would have to hope that when the Reapers do make their appearance, he'd be ready.

"Alright Maki-sensei!" Naruto spoke with excitement. "You're treating me today!"

"What?"

***Abandoned farming village***

Kizaki of the Reapers finally arrived at the abandoned village along with the other six Reapers that had appeared to reinforce them in their mission. The other Akatsuki pair, Hidan and Kakuzu, had gone their separate ways doing who knows what. All Kizaki cared was making sure to keep his team mates alive and with Yamui, it was a difficult task.

In the eyes of a normal person or even an experienced ninja, none would notice the large Genjutsu that was placed on this once thriving village. With the Genjutsu, anyone that entered the village would not notice the numerous ex-ninjas located here. However normally those that had entered the barrier were killed instantly.

"You're back Kizaki." A Reaper ninja said. "You better report to him. He'll wish to know how the mission went."

Kizaki nodded and headed for the main building. Takyu and Yamui broke away from the team and headed off in their respective paths. There never was an official team after all. They were merely paired up to suit their mission with their respective abilities.

Kizaki entered the main building and the elite guards allowed him to pass. Finally before him was the leader of the Reapers, the man that had united every ninja that had abandoned their former village.

"Tell me how your mission went, Kizaki." The man ordered.

"Of course, Shuya-sama."


	71. Sasuke's Mangekyou

**Hei guys, this here is a short chapter but the next chapter will be the beginning of a pretty long arc.  
Next chatper "The village of war"**

**Oh by the way, the original story that I've been talking about… Me and my friend have already designed the plot layout/summary and I'll be showing them at the end of this chapter.  
Do leave a review :D**

**CHAPTER 71: SASUKE'S MANGEKYOU**

An uneventful week had passed since the abduction of Sunagakure's Kazekage. There were no other reports of the Akatsuki's presence from Jiraiya or from any other sources but Tsunade knew that everyone had to be ready. There was also no report that the two-tailed beast or any other tailed beasts were captured.

In Konoha training ground number seven, Uchiha Sasuke was already deep into his daily training, beginning first with some warm-ups before he went into harsh training.

As sweat poured down his brows, pain in his muscles as they ache and exhausting himself from using too much chakra, Sasuke ignored all of it. However his body knew its limits and his legs could no longer support him as Sasuke collapsed on his back, panting heavily while staring up into the bright sky.

'I need to improve more. The strength of the Akatsuki… There're more than them and who knows who else is out there.' Sasuke thought.

The memories of his near death encounter with Hidan were truly horrifying. He had been careless and because of it, he had nearly paid it with his life. It was true that the young Uchiha had fought against S-rank ninjas but he felt that he should have done better.

'It was only thanks to the Mangekyou Sharingan that I'm still alive." Sasuke thought.

With resolve in his heart, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and began pouring chakra into his eyes. Kakashi had warned him not to use it when low on chakra but he felt if he wanted to get stronger, he had to take risks. After a few seconds, his Sharingan had three intersecting ellipses as his design. This was Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan.

He had never expected to unlock the Mangekyou Sharingan through sheer training alone. He recalled his brother having said that it was a requirement to 'kill your best friend' to unlock the eyes or through an emotional trauma but Kakashi had merely told him it was possible although he never mentioned how.

***Five months ago***

Sasuke waited patiently for Kakashi after Gai had finished with his Taijutsu session. Although Sasuke was not on the same level as Rock Lee in Taijutsu, Sasuke could honestly say that his Taijutsu level was definitely high in the whole of Konoha.

As usual, Kakashi would be late so the Uchiha heir decided to not waste any time waiting for him. Since Sasuke was already a Jounin, Kakashi had taught Sasuke about chakra nature and the laws related to it. In order to fully master his natural affinity for Fire and Lightning, he had to advance his affinity whenever possible.

Sasuke picked a leaf and began pouring his chakra into it. It took a while before the leaf was suddenly crumpled like a piece of paper. Sasuke was concentrating on mastering the Lightning affinity first before he would move on to his Fire affinity.

"I see you're improving in your Lightning affinity." Kakashi stated.

"You're late… As usual."

"Well I can't change who I am." Kakashi responded quickly. "Anyway I've got an important new technique I just discovered that will interest you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh? What have you got?"

Kakashi merely grinned beneath his mask and revealed his Sharingan. Immediately the copy ninja began concentrating chakra on his Sharingan until to Sasuke's amazement, the Sharingan changed shape. Sasuke had seen this only once in his life when his brother did this to him all those years ago.

"That's…"

Kakashi could a large amount of his chakra was depleted merely by activating the Mangekyou Sharingan. He knew that his Sharingan had a higher level some years ago when he suddenly went unconscious so he researched about it. Fortunately he discovered some old documents containing some information about the Mangekyou Sharingan.

With that resolve in his mind, he had been increasing his chakra for some time now and it was three years ago when he finally activated his Mangekyou Sharingan without passing out. It took Kakashi a while before he discovered Kamui, the technique he could use with his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"That's right. This is a Mangekyou Sharingan." Kakashi said.

Sasuke was at a loss for words. "But… That's impossi… How…?"

"How I obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan also does not matter." Kakashi said. "What is important is that you also unlock these eyes."

For a moment there, Sasuke was transported through time from the words Kakashi used. It was almost like the words were some sort of code to send Sasuke to this very scenario. The exact same words of what Itachi had said to him before he disappeared from the village.

'Come find me when you have these eyes.' Itachi said coldly.

However Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan was a completely different shape than his older brother. However Sasuke had not expected that unlocking the ultimate Sharingan was achievable just by sheer training. It merely boiled Sasuke's blood to quickly take this part of the training.

The copy ninja could see the determined resolve in Sasuke's eyes. He would not have taught Sasuke about unlocking the Mangekyou Sharingan but since Sasuke was resolved as a Konoha ninja, this would merely help Sasuke get stronger.

Thus Kakashi explained to Sasuke how he could unlock the ultimate Sharingan by focusing certain amounts of chakra into the eye while the Sharingan was active. Although it was difficult and dangerous as it could lead to blindness, an Uchiha could unlock the eyes by this method.

For weeks Sasuke would emphasize on the training of obtaining the Mangekyou Sharingan. The pain his eyes would encounter was excruciating and it almost felt like poison was being poured into his eyes. Finally a month later, Sasuke unlocked his own Mangekyou Sharingan on a cold morning by the river of training ground seven.

"Congratulations!" Kakashi said, appearing by Sasuke's side. "You've finally unlocked them."

Sasuke gave a tired grin. "So… How do I get… the abilities… that come with… these eyes?"

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows? From the documents that I've uncovered, no one really knows. It will take some time but each eye can unlock one ability so you should have at least two abilities; unlike me since I only have one Mangekyou Sharingan."

It would take Sasuke a few weeks later before he finally discovered he could use one of the most powerful Genjutsu in the entire world; the Tsukuyomi. In the beginning he could not manipulate space and time as Itachi did but after some practice, he managed to reach around Itachi's level. Unfortunately for the young Uchiha, the chakra usage was far too much and he could only use twice in a day before his eyes hurt or his chakra level too low to use it once more.

***Present time***

By now Sasuke had enough time to resume his training after his short break but this time he kept the Mangekyou Sharingan activated. The Uchiha was so engrossed in his training that he had not noticed Maki had been watching him for some time now along with Naruto.

"He's been training like this ever since we returned." Naruto observed.

"Hmm…"

"Can't say I blame him. After realizing how strong the Akatsuki really is… Not to mention those Reapers… I'll go start my training too."

With that Naruto leaped off the tree branch and created several shadow clones. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto had the advantage of having clones to speed up his training. However Sasuke was a natural born genius and he would adapt and learn new things at an incredibly fast rate too.

As Maki watched two of his students training hard, Kakashi landed next to him on the tree branch.

"What's wrong?" Maki asked as he noticed the look in Kakashi's eye.

"Be prepared." Kakashi said. "We might be leaving on a mission tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? That's sudden."

"Well when it involves the Reapers and Akatsuki… I doubt Tsunade has much choice now."

**Plot layout : **

**A thousand years ago, a grueling war between the fate of humanity and the tyranny of demon invaders ended with humans as the victor allowing them to reclaim what was left of their broken world. That day has been forever remembered in the history of mankind as the "Dark Curtain Call" signaling the end of the reign of terror. **

**However, some scars will never heal as the world lay sundered and divided into different continents haunted by the remnants of the surviving demons that remain hiding in the shadow lurking and scheming mankind's ultimate demise. But the strength and tenacity of man was unrelenting as they build upon their broken lands with renew hope and determination.**


	72. The Village Of War

**Hei guys, here's the new updated chapter. I hope you will enjoy it :D**

**Next chapter, "Location"**

**CHAPTER 72: THE VILLAGE OF WAR**

In the darkness of the night, three figures followed a pathway that would lead them towards their destination. It was an important mission that they had to fulfill for their organization's objective. This would be the third target they would hope to fulfill before the higher villages would discover their plot.

Takyu Musashi of the Reapers was leading this group of ninjas. After his success of obeying his superior Kizaki in supporting the Akatsuki capture and seal the One-tailed beast, he was now given the task of leading his own team. There were several teams deployed for this mission in hopes of quickly 'sealing' the targets.

"Musashi-san, how much further until we can rest?" Takyu's subordinate, a former ninja of the Kirigakure by the name of Tumako asked.

"You fool!" Takyu admonished. "The other teams have already secured their objectives. We only have two days before the other five powers react to our sealing. We cannot waste time."

"Heh well, that is to be expected of a ninja formerly from Kirigakure." The third member of the team stated.

"Stop it Yamui. You're just worsening the situation at hand." Takyu said.

Takyu could already feel a headache about to appear with Yamui in his team. When they had teamed up for the first time recently in their mission at Suna, he thought Yamui was trouble but it was worse. However Yamui's knowledge of Konoha and their ninjas were of valuable information so the Reapers needed someone such as him.

Yamui merely gave a smirk but said no more. Two hours would pass the trio as they continued their silent walk until they finally sighted the village. This was their objective and they had to secure the area until the sealing team arrived. For now they all just had to wait.

***Konoha, Morning***

Hatake Kakashi was rarely on time in any of his appointments but when the situation called for it, he would react quickly. With the recent rumors that had been going around, he knew he had no time to waste. The copy ninja sprinted across the rooftops like lightning, blazing towards the Hokage tower.

Kakashi had already heard that some ANBU teams had been deployed in several sectors of Fire country ever since the fact that the Reapers were allied with the Akatsuki. Also several Black Opt ANBU teams had been deployed with their mission to discover where the headquarters of the Reapers were.

Once Kakashi entered the Hokage's office, he was not surprised to find his team mates were already waiting for him. Team seven stood at attention and Tsunade welcomed Kakashi as he joined the team. Sakura could tell something was wrong from the serious look her uncle had when they departed. It troubled her deep inside her heart and she would soon find out what it was.

"So what's the mission?" Sasuke asked.

Before Tsunade could answer, the door burst open and team ten entered the office. Sarutobi Asuma with his two subordinates Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji acted as if they were called which confused Naruto. However Maki and Kakashi had already expected their arrival.

"What're you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I called for them." Tsunade answered. "For the next mission, you're going to require another team's assistance."

Shikamaru had merely just returned a few days ago after he remained at Sunagakure's to complete the Chuunin exams as part of being an invigilator to represent Konoha. Now that he was back, they immediately called for him on another mission and from what he had heard; it was an S-rank mission. It merely made him feel a headache approaching.

Team ten was one of the rare teams that were still active as a team despite having different ranks in the team. Asuma and Shikamaru were already elite Jounins while Chouji was a Chuunin and normally, the team would have been disbanded but due to their success, Konoha felt that team ten should resume as a team in completing missions.

Thus Tsunade began the briefing. "Some of you may have already heard the rumors about some of the villages in the province of the Fire country have disappeared. This has been going on for two days now and we need to find out what is causing this."

"Disappeared?" Sakura asked.

"You heard me right. We have no idea what has happened to these villages but our scouts have spotted some disturbing individuals in the area. Unfortunately they were unable to confirm these individuals."

Naruto instantly feared the worst. "You mean…?"

"We're not sure if it's the Reapers. However with them being active recently we'll have to assume that it is them and they're in our territory. We cannot afford to lose another of our village without knowing what they plan to do."

Naruto felt this mission was going to be another difficult one, which merely excited him. He could test out his skills more and not to mention perhaps they could recover some information regarding the relationship between Akatsuki and the Reapers.

"Team seven and Team ten, your mission is to head to the village north-east of Konoha. I've already assigned other teams to secure other villages that we believe might be targeted next. Find out who the enemy is and stop them. That is all."

"You guys head out first and get prepared." Maki instructed, "We need to discuss something else with the Hokage."

Although Naruto and Sasuke were reluctant, Shikamaru dragged them along. From the looks Asuma had, the Nara genius had a feeling that the discussion involved none of them despite their ranks or skills. Once the door was shut behind the elite Jounins, Maki began his questions.

"What are you doing? You know very that the Reapers are with the Akatsuki so why Naruto should also be going on this mission?!" Maki demanded.

"I understand your concern but we've already sent a number of other squads to guard other villages so we're currently short of hand. Not to mention that Jiraiya actually recommended that your team participated in this mission."

Kakashi was surprised by the statement. "Jiraiya-sama did?"

"Jiraiya himself will be involved in the mission indirectly as he too wishes to know of the Reapers possible alliance with the Akatsuki. By sending Naruto out, he hopes to discover the truth."

"Well this has gotten far more interesting." Asuma commented.

"If Jiraiya-sama and you are certain about this… then I trust your decisions." Maki said.

"Heh watch your tone boy!" Tsunade said. "You're still much younger to actually doubt us."

The elite Jounins shared a quick laugh and made their way out of the office. Once the Jounins were out of the office, Jiraiya appeared from the window, entering the office. The Toad Sannin hid his presence well that only his old team mate was aware of his presence.

"Do you really think it is wise for Naruto to go on this mission?" Tsunade asked.

"We can't keep him locked up forever. Besides if not then what was the point of me training him for two and a half years? He's more than capable of taking care of himself."

"I guess you're right."

"Also…" Jiraiya paused for a moment. "This is one of the only ways to figure out the truth of the Reaper's relationship with the Akatsuki."

"You think the Akatsuki will make an appearance?"

"If they're working together, they will." Jiraiya stated plainly. "That is why I'll be nearby should the Akatsuki make an appearance."

Before Tsunade could utter another word, Jiraiya was gone from the Hokage tower. After a while Jiraiya headed towards the Hokage monument, focused on his next mission. He removed the large scroll from his back and read the information he had written down not so long ago. He feared that hopefully he would not have to use the seal but if the situations called for it, he would have no choice.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." Jiraiya muttered to himself.

***Konoha Streets***

Uzumaki Naruto and Nara Shikamaru were respectively waiting for the rest of their team to gather at their meeting point. In order to get ready for the mission, the others had gone off to prepare and Naruto along with Shikamaru were the first to have been ready.

The streets were filled with the people of Konoha, ignorant of the dangers that their fellow ninjas would face in the missions. However the two were significant in the establishment of Konoha both in terms of military strength and also the economic power of the village. The merchants busy with advertising their products in hopes to sell them, farmers selling their produce. The mere sight of such peaceful lives created an envious feeling within Shikamaru.

"Man…" Shikamaru sighed.

"What's wrong? You got into another one of your lazy daydreams again?" Naruto asked.

"You could say that. Ahh… I just wanted to live an easy life."

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about the upcoming mission instead?"

Shikamaru chuckled in response. "You've become much more disciplined, eh Naruto?"

"Not really… I'm just saying that because I'm surprised a Jounin can be so… easy-going."

Shikamaru shrugged. "We'll have our briefing soon enough. That's when things get serious."

Sasuke appeared a moment later along with Chouji and Sakura. After confirming that they were well prepared, the five of them headed off for the main gate of Konoha where their Jounin-sensei would meet them. For a number of elite Jounins to head off on a mission, the ninjas that knew of them concluded that they would be participating on an A-rank mission at least.

A few minutes later, team seven and ten arrived at the gates and found that their elite Jounin superiors were already waiting for them. Team seven was surprised especially due to the fact that Kakashi rarely or never made it on time for a meeting. Asuma gave a wave, a cigarette between his lips.

"Alright, is everyone prepared?" Asuma asked, releasing a puff of smoke.

"You should really tone down on your smoking." Shikamaru responded, waving away the polluted smoke from his face.

"Alright!" Maki began. "You all know the mission. We are to secure a village to the north-east of Konoha. It is quite a distance from Konoha and will probably take at least half a day's travel before we arrive."

"That's not our only mission though." Kakashi added. "Because other teams are participating in securing other villages in the border of Fire country, should a village come under attack and require reinforcement, our teams will also be required to provide assitance."

"This is quite a large scale mission." Sasuke pointed out.

"We cannot afford to lose another village without discovering the cause of it." Maki said, "Be alert throughout the mission once we leave the village. If there are no other questions, let's move out!"

Immediately team seven and team ten departed the village of Konoha, leaping off from one tree branch to another. Other teams that would be comprised of elite Jounins were also departing towards a village to secure the area while the ANBU and other Chuunin level ninjas would remain in the village as defense should it come under attack. If seen from an observer, one would assume that Konoha had been taken back in time, back to the Third Shinobi World War as the large teams of Konoha ninjas depart.

***Village***

Takyu had ordered his team to separate the moment they entered the village and scout the surroundings. They had to secure the area as quickly as possible before the sealing team arrived to commence their objectives. Honestly Takyu wondered how securing these villages would serve their cause, not to mention this would alert Konoha of their presence. However he trusted the leader's decisions and he would follow them through.

Takyu walked along the small streets of the village, memorizing the layout and locations of each building in case he needed to escape or fight. This process continued for another couple of minutes before Tumako appeared by his side.

"What is it Tumako?"

"Musashi-san… They're here." Tumako said, pointing at the entrance of the village.

Exactly where Tumako was pointing were four figures dressed in a long cloak comprised of red clouds on their black cloak. They wore straw hats to mask their identity and they were the other group that the Reapers would be working together with.

"This is a beautiful village, hm." One of the figures said, appreciating the designs of the buildings.

"We're here on a mission so don't lose your focus." The shorter figure that seemed to be on all fours warned.

"Don't worry Sasori-sama, I never lose my focus."

Takyu approached the four figures along with Tumako. Takyu decided that Yamui not greeting the Akatsuki would be best since he would simply cause some tensions between their group and it was bad enough in the last mission. As powerful as Takyu is on his own, the Akatsuki were on a completely different level.

"Deidara-sama, Sasori-sama… The village seems clear of any shinobi. We should be fine to commence the sealing." Takyu reported.

The shorter Akatsuki member nodded. "That's good, I like it when people are on time. Now then." Sasori glared at the remaining two cloaked figures. "You do what you've been assigned to do."

The two other Akatsuki figures merely nodded their heads and instantly disappeared as if they were never there. Sasori and Deidara were however not surprised but it certainly shocked Takyu. Even if ninjas possessed the ability to use the Space-Time technique, it would not be as powerful as that.

"What… What was that?" Takyu asked.

"Don't worry, it's not what you think, hm." Deidara replied. "Those two are the sealing team and what you saw just now… Let's just call them an 'illusion' to make things simple."

"An illusion?"

"You don't need to know, hm." Deidara replied. "Just know that they will commence the sealing while we secure the village from being taken."

With that Sasori and Takyu walked past the two Reaper ninjas. This was the first time Takyu would be involved in this mission of 'sealing' a village but whatever it was, he knew that he would have to protect the two 'sealing' members of the Akatsuki.

**Chapter end**


	73. Location

**Hei guys, here's the current chapter. Hope you guys enjoy this and leave a review!  
Next chapter, "The Puppet Master"**

**CHAPTER 73: LOCATION**

***Seventeen years ago, Training Fields***

A young Haruno Maki waited patiently at the training grounds where his team met regularly. However his Jounin-sensei was extremely late today which was a rare occurrence. As the sun began to irritate him and the heat continue to burn the skin, finally his teacher arrived with a displeased look on his face.

It was weird since he received a message from his teacher to meet him here but apparently he was the only one present here. His teacher approached him, his golden hair and emerald green eyes shining from the sun rays.

As an elite Jounin of Konoha, Namoto Shuya was one of the most powerful ninjas of Konoha and was even once a captain of the ANBU black opts. He donned a grey Jounin vest and had his Konoha headband tied across where his should be. He also wore an arm-guard on his right hand, a symbol of his old days within the ANBU.

"What's up sensei?" Maki greeted cheerfully.

Shuya ignored his student's question and gazed at his surroundings, absorbing the beauty of the training grounds. He was raised in Konoha after all and as much as he loved the village, he could not accept the decision of the elders that Minato Namikaze was selected as the 4th Hokage.

"Maki… I'm going to have to disband the team."

The words barely registered into the young Gennin, unable to comprehend such words. Maki at first assumed his teacher was joking but the expression on Shuya's face proved otherwise. The thirteen year old Gennin could utter no words for a moment.

"Sensei… Is this a joke…? What's going on?"

Shuya looked into the eyes of Maki and then gave his answer. "I'm leaving the village."

"Wha…? You mean on a mission, right?" Maki asked.

"No, I'm abandoning the village. I no longer have the desire to live here, not with the decision that the council have made." Shuya explained coldly before he gazed at Maki. "You're a talented ninja, Maki. Perhaps one day you'll finish your technique of the kunai and shadow clones but I can no longer assist you in that matter. As you were my favorite student, I wanted to tell you my decision before I left."

With his parting words, Namoto Shuya scrubbed Maki's hair one last time before he leaped into the woods, never to be seen again among Konoha. Maki stared at the direction where his teacher last disappeared, standing in the center of the training field like a fool.

It was a few hours later when news of Namoto Shuya's abandonment would reach the ears of the elders. Orders were given for the search of the elite Jounin, the newly appointed Hokage even part of the search but as expected of a highly-skilled ninja, none were able to track him down.

Team four was officially disbanded due to the disappearance of their Jounin leader and although it was a huge loss, the Konoha council felt it had to be done. Maki would be promoted to Chuunin soon after and his team mates would also advance. It was when Maki was a Jounin that he discovered why his teacher had defected.

Apparently Shuya felt that Konoha should be the dominant force among the five powers and that Konoha should not have accepted the peace treaty to end the Third Ninja War. Instead he believed Konoha should have attacked the other villages and controls them but of course none agreed with him, including his best friend, the Yellow Flash of Konoha.

The final blow was when Minato was elected as Hokage compared to Orochimaru or Shuya. The council feared that if Shuya was picked as Hokage, he would declare war and bring the tides of war once more in the ninja world. Although he was a great ninja of Konoha and his defection was a great loss, the avoidance of war outweighed the loss of Shuya.

***Present time, Konoha territory, Forest***

Haruno Maki shook his head in frustration, removing himself from the memory of his teacher. Although Shuya had only been a teacher for a year before he defected, he had taught Maki and his two comrades a lot. Shuya had even assisted Maki in creating the 'shadow clone kunai' technique although it was incomplete at the time.

The only reason Maki knew that his old teacher was currently the leader behind "Reapers" was an incident a few years back when two highly skilled Reaper ninjas ambushed him. Maki easily defeated them and was able to gather information about the Reapers. One of them mentioned that the leader was 'a friend of the 4th Hokage' before he ended his own life. The only one that knew of this was Kakashi and other trusted friends of Maki.

"Maki, you okay? You've been quiet for some time now." Asuma questioned.

"I'm alright… Just some things on my mind."

"I assume it is about the Reapers." Kakashi said.

Maki chuckled and nodded in agreement. "For years now the Reapers have only attacked outposts and ambushed some Konoha ninjas on the return from a mission. Now with the threat of Akatsuki, the Reapers had become active. It made the pink haired Jounin wonder whether the opportunity to meet his sensei ever occur.

"So how much farther to the village?" Naruto asked.

"It shouldn't take too long now. I'm guessing an hour or so before we arrive." Kakashi answered.

The group continued their journey in silence, moving through the forest quickly. Other ninja teams comprised of Jounins were also headed to their designated targets to secure a village while the ANBU remain in Konoha.

Shikamaru realized this would be his second time that he would be facing against ninjas involved with the Reapers. As one of the youngest elite Jounins of Konoha, he knew that for Konoha to force two team to work together would mean that the danger of the mission was high. He could not let his guard down and would have to be at attention at all times; no time to do any cloud-watching.

Two hours would pass by before team ten and seven would arrive at their destination. Unlike Konoha, the villagers outside of Konoha know nothing of the disappearance of other villages so the arrival of ninjas surprised them. They assumed they were here for a routine checkup and so resumed with their current activities.

"Alright team, we will separate here in pairs." Maki began, "Kakashi and Sasuke will scout the north sector of this village. Naruto and Sakura towards the west sector, Chouji and Shikamaru towards the south sector. Asuma and I will scout the streets throughout the village. If any of you spot anything suspicious, alert us immediately."

Everyone agreed and immediately separated with their respective partners. By this time the sun was already close to setting and the darkness of the night would soon take its place. However as ninjas, they could not abandon their duty until further orders were given from Konoha.

"Heh I don't get it." Sasuke said to Kakashi.

"What is it?"

"I know that you and Maki are almost equal in skill but in terms of experience, you have the upper-hand since you participated in the last war." Sasuke said.

"Where're you going with this?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm just wondering how come Maki tends to be the leader of the team, that's all."

"Well this is originally his team after all. The only reason I'm placed in the team is because of the threat of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru going after you. Not to mention now with the possible threat of the Reapers, I'm more needed in the team." Kakashi explained.

"I see…"

"Besides you shouldn't allow the thought of me being involved in the war resulting in more experience on my part. Maki is almost as good as I am in terms of picking teams and picking the next course of action. His act of defending the Western sector of Konoha during the invasion two years ago is a proof of that."

Sasuke listened and realized he was wrong to think that Kakashi was the better simply because of experience. The two were almost equal in skills and ability so although Kakashi had much more experience on the battlefield, Maki made up with that by the use of shadow clones, which would double or even triple the experience Maki had.

"Not to mention that Namoto Shuya was once his teacher." Kakashi added in.

"Namoto Shuya… The one that's currently the leader of this 'Reapers' organization?"

"Well to be fair, that is merely Maki's assumption." Kakashi replied. "As we told you recently, there is very little information regarding the Reapers, including the one leading this group. The only reason Maki believes that his old teacher is the leader is because of rumors that a former Konoha ninja well versed in Genjutsu is in charge of the Reapers, which is a short description of Shuya."

"Maki's sensei was a Genjutsu user?" Sasuke asked.

"One of the most powerful Genjutsu users in the history of Konoha that even the Uchiha themselves considers his Genjutsu to be far superior. Maki's brother, Haruno Hanaki was also one of Shuya's personal students and took up in his teacher's footsteps, becoming a Genjutsu user before his early demise."

"So why did this guy defect from Konoha?"

Kakashi sighed, recalling the event. "After the third ninja war ended, as you had learned in the academy, various treaties were signed with different villages for peace. However there were those within each village that felt the war should have continued and Konoha was no different. Shuya was one of the individuals that harbored such feelings. What was worse was that at the end of the third ninja war, the 3rd Hokage retired his position and candidates for Hokage were nominated."

"So Shuya was one of the candidates?"

Kakashi nodded. "Of course due to his view of resuming the war, he was easily picked off from the candidate list. Along with Orochimaru's desire for power, the 'Yellow Flash' was the perfect choice as 4th Hokage. Of course Shuya did not take the decision well and left the village later after Orochimaru."

"So he would have gone to war if he was nominated as Hokage?"

"The probability of that happening would have been extremely high but that's the past. Konoha lost a valuable shinobi but if going into war was the path, then Shuya had to leave."

Sasuke remained shut for a few seconds before commenting, "I never knew Maki had that sort of past."

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "Every individual has their own history that they are not willing to share. Maki respected his teacher a lot and his abandonment of Konoha… Maki did not take it well. He probably completed his clone kunai technique as a dedication to his teacher."

"Alright, enough about that; time to get back on our mission." Sasuke reminded the copy ninja once they had arrived at the northern sector of the village.

Meanwhile Naruto and Sakura strolled through their assigned area together, enjoying each other's presence while at the same time fulfilling their duty. It had been a long time since they had spent any time together alone so it was nice that they were partnered together.

'Knowing uncle Maki, I wondered if he planned this.' Sakura thought in her head.

The villagers that saw Naruto and Sakura walk together thought of them as a cute couple. Although the village was under Konoha, not many knew of the Jinchuuriki container so they knew nothing of Naruto but a normal shinobi. The resemblance towards their late 4th Hokage merely helped adore Naruto and Sakura in the village.

"What brings you two to this village?" An old lady asked when the two ninjas passed by their stall.

"Hei old lady!" Naruto greeted cheerfully. "We're here on a mi…"

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, bumping Naruto in the gut.

"What…?"

Sakura ignored Naruto and bowed slightly at the old lady. "We're just here on patrol duties."

"Ah that's nice. You young ninjas are the one keeping our country safe. Now don't let me bother you and go ahead with your jobs." The old lady said.

Sakura nodded and dragged Naruto along with her.

"You idiot, you can't just tell someone we're on a mission!" Sakura chastised. "It'll just scare the people here and we don't want them to panic."

Naruto scratched his head while laughing. "My bad my bad!"

"Honestly…" Sakura sighed.

Sakura glared at Naruto and smiled to herself. Although he was incredibly sharp in battle, he could still have his moments of stupidity when dealing with others. But it was that sort of character that she liked about him among his other traits.

"Alright, let's see if there's anything over there." Naruto said, leading Sakura.

***Western village, 200 kilometers away from Konoha***

"This village is huge!" Inuzuka Kiba exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down." Shino said. "You're just causing attention towards us and if the enemy is close…"

"Ah lighten up will ya? Like I said this place is huge so there's no way the enemy heard us. Besides the chances that they will choose this village out of all the other villages are highly unlikely! Right, Hinata?"

"Erm… I… guess?" Hinata muttered nervously.

Shino fixed his dark sunglasses, unimpressed with Kiba's nonchalant attitude. "Just be alert then."

Kurenai shook her head and followed her team into the village that they had been assigned to secure. Of course team eight was also accompanied by another team of Jounins but Kurenai were not familiar with any of the Jounins on the other team.

Kurenai had to admit that among the other teams, her team consisted of the most variety in classes. Kurenai was recognized as an elite Jounin two years ago while two of her students; Shino and Kiba had just been appointed as Jounins recently while the Hyuuga princess was still a Chuunin.

"There sure are a lot of weapon shops and blacksmiths here." Kiba observed.

"That's not surprising." Kurenai said. "This village used to serve Konoha by producing the ninja weapons during the time of war. As a matter of fact this village still produces Konoha's weapons but they've slowed down since the war."

Shino nodded. "Very interesting."

"So wha-what's the plan, Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"It's best we stick together." Shino answered instead. "The reason Konoha would send two teams comprised of high-level ninjas was so that the two teams could stick to their respective teams while still able to reinforce the other in case of an attack."

"Shino's strategy is right." Kurenai agreed. "We don't know who our enemies are nor do we know the numbers. Although we can cover more ground by separating, I will not risk that."

It was thus decided among team eight that they would not wander off alone. The difficult part of this mission was that the enemy knew Konoha shinobi appearance while none knew what the enemy looked like. Not a lot of Konoha shinobi had experienced sighting the Reapers and a description of 'wearing a headband with a cross over Konoha' was not enough. The Reapers could disguise themselves as a citizen for all they knew.

Shino discreetly dispersed his bugs at certain locations as they patrolled the village with instructions to alert him on anything if the bugs picked up suspicious activity or unknown chakra presence.

Two hours would pass without much activity and team eight were at a Dango shop, taking a short break. As it was after lunch hours, there not much other patrons so serve. Team eight conversed with one another, happy with the treat their sensei was offering when Kiba picked up a weird scent.

Kiba sniffed a couple of times and Shino noticed the troubled look.

"What's wrong?"

"I…I'm not sure but this scent… It's got a weird smell, not to mention… chakra? I've never picked up a scent infused with chakra before."

"Chakra?" Shino got up from his seat immediately. "We better check it out."

Kiba groaned in response. "Aww man, I still got one last stick left."

"Kiba, this is serious. We…" Kurenai began before Kiba also stood up on his feet.

"Geez, I was just joking… Alright, follow me."

Kiba began sniffing again and followed the scent along his large pet, Akamaru. Shino immediately dispersed a small amount of bugs within the area in hopes to detect any sort of threat but nothing could be found. Hinata activated her Byakugan and she finally spotted a chakra source.

"Kiba-kun, I see something… To the north, thirty meters ahead, a small chakra source." Hinata described.

"Nice Hinata! What is it?" Kiba asked.

"I'm not… very sure… It looks like some sort… of bird?"

The rest of team eight had a strange look and followed Hinata. Indeed as Hinata described, there was a small bird, white in color on the ground next to some boxes. Shino ordered the team to stop in their tracks and allowed his bugs to examine the strange bird.

After a couple of seconds, the bugs returned to Shino. "It's not alive. The bird is made out of clay and infused with quite a large amount of chakra."

"This is highly unusual." Kurenai commented. "We should call in the other team or…"

Unknown to team eight, another person was watching them with a smile on his face. He knew that the team in the Dango shop was an excellent scouting team so he hid his presence well. Once they had their attention focused on his decoy, he could now finally prepare the attack. The young man made a seal and gave a menacing grin.

"Art… is a blast!"

***North-East village, Maki and Asuma***

Haruno Maki and Sarutobi Asuma were currently at a small park of the village, taking a break on a bench. It had been several hours since the teams dispatched to scout their designated sectors so they would soon meet up to report on their findings.

"Don't you think moving us into pairs rather risky, Maki?" Asuma asked out of the blue. "I mean, there's a reason why each village was assigned with at least two teams right?"

"You're right but there's nothing to worry about. I've already created a shadow clone to follow each of the pair. So if anything happened, the clone will dispel itself to alert me." Maki reasoned.

Asuma chuckled. "I see that you've prepared yourself then. Honestly you and your shadow clones… It's only thanks to your massive amount of chakra that allows you to abuse the shadow clone technique."

"Hei I worked my ass off when I was young with chakra exercises to expand my chakra capacity. It took my almost nearly four years doing boring exercises every single day for long hours to finally achieve this. And I still do this exercise in my training."

"Well… You need to get a girl, that's why you've got so much free time." Asuma teased.

"Shut up. Just because you now got Kurenai…"

Asuma and Maki shared a laugh and then shared mutual silence, both staring into the bright sky. It was like sharing the calm before the storm in a war, with the villagers enjoying the peace in the park and the ninjas before heading off to war. It was then that Maki suddenly felt a reaction, opening his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Asuma asked.

"My clone… One of them dispelled itself and… come on, we got to go!"

***Western village, Team Eight***

The explosion caused fear and terror among the villagers, everyone screaming for their lives as dust and debris covered the area. Deidara smirked after witnessing his art and rejoined his partner whom was waiting for him. A C-2 at point-blank range, Deidara expected the Konoha team to have been obliterated.

"That should take care of them." Deidara stated.

"The other Konoha team will make their way here after that ruckus." Sasori pointed out. "They're mine."

"As you wish, Sasori-sama."

With their objectives to deal with one of the Konoha teams done, Deidara and Sasori made their leave. The villagers noticed none of the Akatsuki members as every one of them gathered around, murmuring with one another and wondering what had happened. Once Deidara and Sasori were a distance away and entered a much more solitude area of the village, Sasori grunted as a signal towards Deidara.

"I know." Deidara said.

"TSUGA!"

Kiba attacked at a ferocious speed but Deidara and Sasori already expected the attack, dodging the attack. Kiba smashed the ground where the two Akatsuki members stood earlier, returning back to his form. His team mates joined him immediately, not a single scratch on them from the explosion earlier.

"Heh, I guess it isn't so easy to kill Konoha ninjas." Deidara said.

"Don't underestimate the strength of the Aburame." Shino replied.

Before the clay bird detonated, Shino surrounded the bomb with a large amount of his bugs to absorb the blast. Although that obviously failed, it reduced the blast radius and power which allowed team Eight to avoid escape with their lives.

"Akatsuki… For them to actually attack…" Kurenai said.

Sasori stepped ahead of Deidara, removing his cloak. "Deidara… These guys are mine since you've failed. I'll finish them."

Deidara smirked in response. "Normally I'd refuse but it's nice to see the puppet master so riled up."

Team Eight were greeted with the sight of a mechanical scorpion-like contraption. A long, iron scorpion-like tail appeared from a large mask on the contraption's back, moving around like a scorpion's tail.

"Now then. Let me finish you four off and add your bodies to my collection of human puppets!" Sasori hissed.


	74. The Puppet Master

**Hi guys, sorry for the delay but here is the new chapter :D  
hope you guys will enjoy this chapter, do leave a review to tell me you thoughts! It'll help me improve the story and also as a writer.**

**Next chapter: The Trick & The Iron Sand**

**CHAPTER 74: THE PUPPET MASTER**

"What did you say?" Nara Shikamaru questioned.

"The villages that disappeared are located where they should be. The only thing missing is…"

"The villagers." Shikamaru finished.

The ANBU captain nodded and Shikamaru was troubled by the report. His companion Chouji asked some other questions with the ANBU ninja but Shikamaru was already processing all the information that the ANBU captain had told him.

'What is the enemy's plan? Just a few days ago, villages belonging to Konoha disappeared and now it seems that the villages were "returned". But the bigger problem is that the villagers in each of the villages that went missing are gone. If this is the work of the Reapers, what do they plan to do? Keep the villagers as hostage to demand something in return?' Shikamaru thought quickly.

It was just five minutes ago when Shikamaru and Chouji were speaking with some of the local villagers when the ANBU captain appeared suddenly. The two Konoha ninjas excused themselves and here the ANBU captain delivered the report, shocking both ninjas.

The Nara prodigy could feel the gazes from the villagers like they were outsiders. He needed to discuss about this where the populace would not notice them and the ANBU captain also noticed the strange looks given. Before either decided to head off, Maki and Asuma appeared.

"What's going on?"

"Maki-san…" The ANBU captain gave a courteous bow. "I was just about to go look for you to report about the situation."

At that moment, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke arrived, surprised with the presence of an ANBU ninja in the village. Maki had his clones inform Naruto and Kakashi to meet at the designated location, which was how all of them were now gathered.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

The ANBU captain cleared his throat. "Let me start all over. ANBU scouts have recently discovered that the villages that were reported 'missing' were found. The only problem is that the villagers in each of the village that went missing are now all gone."

"That doesn't sound good." Asuma said.

"Indeed. However since the villages are back, Konoha is ordering all the squads that have been deployed to guard the villages to return to Konoha."

"So soon?" Shikamaru protested. "Is it wise to abandon the mission so quickly? They could attack this village soon… Or even another village!"

"I understand your concern but the council is also worried that Konoha is currently exposed to an attack now that only half of the ANBU are in the village. The rest are recalling the other Jounin squads."

"Alright then, understood. We'll depart soon." Maki decided.

The ANBU captain gave one final bow before he made his leave. None of the villagers were aware of the movements of the ANBU; such were their skills in concealing their existence among the commoners almost like as if they were ghosts.

"Are we going to really leave?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi glared at Maki. "What do you think, Maki?"

The pink haired Jounin nodded, confirming his decision. "We'll see what's going on at Konoha but be on your guard. We never know when something might come up."

"Geez… This was just a waste of time then." Naruto groaned in disappointment.

"Well it's not over yet. The villagers are still missing and I'm sure we'll be assigned to assist in recovering them sooner or later." Maki said.

Naruto preferred to not get his hopes up. After making sure the village was secure of any foreign ninjas, team seven and ten made their departure for Konoha. None were aware of the Toad Sannin watching them and he too quickly made a quick exit.

***Team Eight, western village***

Aburame Shino scattered his bugs around his team while preparing for a counter-attack. His strategy in fighting powerful opponents would be to stay on the defensive until he could figure out the enemy's attack patterns, a tactic he adapted from the copy ninja.

Sasori simply stood where he was however, his scorpion-like puppet waving its gigantic metallic tail in an intimidating manner. His calm demeanor showed his confidence in his strengths which scared Hinata to the bones. To the young Hyuuga princess, it was almost like staring into a monster ready to devour her.

Once Shino was done scattering his bugs around his team, he quickly and unnoticeably sent two of his specialized tracking bugs to watch Deidara, Sasori's partner. Although Deidara stated he would not join in the fight, the young Aburame preferred to not take that for granted.

"Alright then, I'll go first!" Kiba said.

"Kiba, wait!" Kurenai warned but Kiba and Akamaru was already ahead.

Sasori waited patiently as the two wild beasts closed in on him. Sasori noticed the frustrated look of the woman Jounin and the team mate with sunglasses, quickly analyzing that Kiba rarely planned ahead. It merely made him smile that the Inuzuka ninja was going to be an easy target.

However Sasori was a ninja with a huge experience in battle. Although Kiba and Akamaru were attacking him now, Sasori never left his sights on the others of team eight.

Kiba and Akamaru attacked but Sasori immediately beat them away with his large tail, throwing both beasts away. Kiba could feel the pain on his right arm where he was hit.

Kiba immediately switched to a different tactic, moving into his clan's 'Four legs technique.' Sasori noticed the change in Kiba's appearance and with the posture that Kiba was on; Sasori guessed that Kiba was moving to an animal-like fighting stance.

"Kiba, stop being so reckless!" Shino chastised.

"Don't worry, he doesn't seem so tough!" Kiba said.

"We need to plan our attack!" Kurenai said once she and Hinata reached Kiba.

"Besides, it looks like our enemy prefers to stay on the defensive." Shino noted.

"Well you guys figure out something, I and Akamaru continue!"

"No, stop!" Shino called out.

Kiba ignored his team mates and struck once more but this time with enhanced abilities. With the 'Four legs' technique, Kiba was faster, stronger and his sense of reflex was better too.

Sasori decided that he wasted enough time and planned to end the fight now. His puppet Hiruko opened its mouth and fired a large number of thin needles at Kiba and Akamaru. The needles travelled quickly as if it were lightning and covered a wide area.

However thanks to Kiba's heightened senses and reflexes, he quickly leaped to the far right and entering a small alley of the village along with Akamaru. The rest of team eight also took cover from the barrage of needles. One of the needles landed close to Shino and the young ninja carefully inspected the needle.

'It has poison implanted in it.' Shino thought. Shino took a quick glimpse from his hiding spot and spotted a symbol on the puppet. 'A scorpion…? This man… it can't be…'

Once Hiruko was finally done with the needle attack, Kiba and his partner attacked quickly. With Kiba's enhanced speed, Sasori barely parried the duo's attack with the puppet's iron tail, smacking the two beasts away.

'They're fast.' Sasori observed.

The young Inuzuka ninja was relentless, immediately attacking once more. Akamaru lunged forward with its fangs revealed, only for Sasori to crash its steely tail on the large pet. Kiba took the opportunity to strike from above, beginning his rotation.

"Passing Fang!"

Despite the velocity, Sasori easily crashed his tail onto Kiba, stopping the attack. Kiba landed hard on the ground, dust and dirt moving from the impact. Before Kiba could recover, Sasori took action quickly; his tail raised high in the air and prepared to deliver the killing blow like a snake about to strike its victim.

"Eight Trigrams! Vacuum Palm!"

Before Sasori could finish Kiba off, Hinata stood in front of Kiba and delivered a high-pressured speed palm thrust towards Sasori. Sasori was blown away, much to his surprise by the sheer power of the technique. Hinata quickly helped her team mate back to his feet, concerned over his status.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, thanks Hinata." Kiba replied.

By then Shino and Kurenai regrouped with the team while Sasori stood where he was.

"What's the matter, Sasori-sama? Do you need my help, hm?" Deidara joked.

"Don't test me, Deidara…"

"I'm just joking, hm. I'm enjoying watching the show!" Deidara said and laughed heartily, taking a sit on a rooftop.

Shino stepped forward this time and had his bugs swarmed around him, buzzing noisily. "So you are Sasori of the Red Sand, former ninja of Sunagakure."

"I see you're well informed of ninjas outside of Konoha. That is rare for a young shinobi." Sasori complimented.

Kurenai also knew little of the man, the name high in the list for the Bingo books. However she never expected this S-rank ninja to be part of the Akatsuki. Kurenai immediately preferred to avoid this battle, knowing her team was facing a truly dangerous shinobi.

"Kiba this time stick with the team. There is no point in me ordering my bugs to surround the team and you go off trying to be a hero." Shino said.

Kiba grumbled but nodded in agreement. "I know, I know… But what can your bugs do anyway? That guy's quite strong y'know?"

"Yes, he's an S-rank missing ninja. We should stay on the defensive." Kurenai offered.

"No it's alright Kurenai-sensei." Shino assured. "He may be an S-rank ninja but I've already discovered a weakness in his battle style."

The rest of team eight turned to face Shino, each of them demanding an explanation.

"You've got a plan?" Kiba asked.

Shino made no comment and none could see his expressions since his lips were covered by his collar. However Shino fixed his shades, which was a signal team eight recognized from Shino. With that, their boost in confidence was increased, even if only a little.

***Western village, bombed area***

"What happened?" An elite Konoha Jounin by the name of Masura asked a villager.

The villager, a middle-aged woman shrugged. "We don't know. I was just doing the laundry when I heard the explosion. Luckily no one was injured but none of us know what caused it."

"Did you see any suspicious looking people?" Masura questioned but the answer was again a negative.

"What do we do?" A Konoha Jounin under Masura's command asked.

Masura realized the villagers were of no help since they saw nothing out of the ordinary. What was even more frustrating to him was that there was no sign of the other Konoha team present which alarmed him. An explosion would attract attention and if team eight were not here, something must have happened.

The other two Konoha Jounins under Masura awaited their captain's orders. The villagers ignored the Konoha shinobi as all of them were busy chattering amongst themselves. The area was so busy and cramped that the Konoha ninjas felt like they were sardines.

Without saying a word Masura soared towards a rooftop, landing smoothly and checking the surroundings. His subordinates followed suit and watched his back.

"What are we doing, Masura-san?" The same Jounin asked.

"We're looking for team eight."

"Why? What happened?"

"It is obvious that the explosion was caused by the enemy. Whatever happened, team eight must have contact with the enemy as evidenced by the explosion. We need to find them and reinforce them." Masura explained.

It would be two minutes later when Masura spotted Kiba in the air, rotating in a high velocity using one of his clan's techniques. Judging from the distance, they were quite a distance away but it was not too far.

"I've found them! Come on, we're going!" Masura ordered.

***Western village, abandoned house***

Musashi Takyu and Tumako remained in the living room while the third member of their team, Yamui was outside of the house. Takyu was swinging his kunai around his index finger through a hole on the handle to pass the time.

Once again, the Reaper team was assigned to assist in covering the Sealing team but this mission was different than the time at Suna. The mission was an order from the Reapers and Akatsuki were called to assist in the mission unlike last time when Akatsuki requested the aid of the Reapers.

Inside a room next to the living room, the 'other' two Akatsuki figure were locked inside, a seal protecting the room. They had been in there for at least a few hours and would continue to do so until they were completed with the 'sealing.'

"Musashi-san…" Tumako began. "I've been wondering…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Do you… ever regret… abandoning your village?"

Takyu glared lazily at the young ninja. "Are you having doubts?"

"Well not exactly but I just wanted to know… another person's perspective when they leave their village."

Takyu stared long and hard at Tumako for some time and finally gave a long sigh. After the question had been asked, Tumako felt like as if the house was now all quiet. He could hear nothing but the sound of breathing and it merely made him nervous.

"To answer your question… No, I have no regrets." Takyu answered. "Why? Because the village does not care about us, even after we've all poured our blood, sweat and tears for the sake of the village. I lost my family in the last great Ninja War. I lost my wife… My son… And just like that, the village suddenly decides to go for peace with the other villages?!"

Takyu slammed his fist on the couch, breaking the handle. "No… I will not have that! I saw the smiles of those vile Konoha scum when they murdered my family before my eyes… And the village actually expects me to… Ignore that?! Just to have peace?! No… I want justice for my family! I want the Konoha ninja that destroyed my life to pay! I want…"

Takyu tried to say some more but he stopped there. He then remained silent for a moment, the memories of his past becoming too painful to speak about. It was the first time Tumako witnessed Takyu with so much fury since no one among the Reapers ever seen Takyu so upset. Takyu was always seen as a calm man but even he had his cry of anger.

"But then… If you hate Konoha so much… How can you bear to work with… former Konoha ninjas? Tumako asked.

Takyu grinned evilly. "Yes I hate Konoha but my hatred for that village is insignificant compared to my thirst for blood of the Konoha that murdered my family. I joined the Reapers only so that my dream of seeing Konoha burn in ashes will come true… just like how that man destroyed my family!"

Unknown to them, Yamui heard the whole conversation from outside and could feel the pain in Takyu's voice as he spoke of his lost. As a former Konoha ninja, he knew many Konoha ninjas saw themselves as the 'good guys,' the ones that did what was right. However Yamui knew that was not true. The dark pages of Konoha were ignored so easily when they brought so much misery to people in the past.

As Yamui stood guard outside the house, three figures dashed by above him. They were quick and Yamui only caught a glimpse of them but it was more than enough. He would recognize that outfit anytime.

Without a second thought, Yamui slammed the door open much to the surprise of Tumako. Takyu glared at Yamui, still deeply upset from recalling his past. However Takyu saw in the eyes of Yamui a hint of sadness, something Takyu never saw in the former Konoha ninja.

"Get your ass out here. We got some Konoha trash to take care off."

***Konoha Territory, Forest***

Two ANBU ninjas were waiting for their captain to return at their rendezvous points. Although they were just a scouting unit, the captain still played an important role so they were to not act without the orders of their superior.

They were about to return to Konoha when their captain received new orders and had to meet up with another ANBU squad that was close in the region. Minutes would pass quickly with the captain nowhere in sight. Just when they feared that the captain might have been ambushed by Reapers, their captain returned.

"Captain, what's the report?" The ANBU wearing a cat mask asked.

"Bad news…" The captain replied. "After we finally confirmed that the missing villages have 'returned' to their original sight… Well, I just received a report that one of the village have gone missing."

"What?"

"It's bad enough that the villagers in each of the 'returned' village have gone missing but now one village has gone missing again?! Which one is it?"

The captain looked towards his left and then back at his team. "The village to the west also known as 'village of war' since it creates most of Konoha's weapon supplies. The reports state that the village had gone missing just a few minutes ago. And that's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"According to the report, two Konoha teams comprised of Jounins were assigned to the village. Whatever it is, those two teams have disappeared along with the village."

The other ANBU ninja with a boar mask cursed under his breath. "So what do we do? Do we try and find this missing village or…?"

"We are to return to Konoha and report this to the council and the Hokage. We can't do much anyway until we figure out a way to locate these 'missing' villages. We depart now!"

"Yes sir!"

With the discipline of a soldier, the ANBU scout team departed quickly towards Konoha. Although they were ANBU and highly skilled ninjas, none were aware of the presence of another shinobi that had been listening in on their conversation. Once the ANBU team had left, the eavesdropper disappeared in a puff of smoke.

A distance away from where the ANBU team left, team seven and team ten of Konoha were waiting for Maki's response. After discovering that the ANBU team was acting strange, they decided to investigate. Thus Maki had sent his shadow clone and listened in on the ANBU scout team.

"What have you got, Maki-sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Whoever the enemy is… They've struck once more. Another village has gone 'missing' according to the ANBU. It seems all of the ANBU are ordered to return to Konoha with the latest information to discuss on how to locate the village."

"Which village is it?" Kakashi asked.

"The village of war to the west of our location." Maki answered.

"Oh, the village of war?" Asuma repeated with interest. "Its quite a journey from our current location but it doesn't matter. Like the ANBU said, we don't know how to find these villages."

Maki grinned at Asuma's words. "Actually… I think I've already discovered the trick behind it."

This was a surprise as even Kakashi himself knew nothing on how to locate the missing villages. It was currently one of the bizarre problems he had ever encountered and he was a sharp ninja on his own. However the copy ninja was interested in what Maki's input would be.

"The moment the ANBU captain earlier mentioned about how these villages were located where they should be… I knew then that the villages were never 'missing' or moved from their original location." Maki explained.

"What do you mean?" Asuma questioned.

"I'll explain on the way! We don't have time to lose, let's go!"

Maki immediately jumped on the nearest tree branch and chakra sprinted away, Naruto and Sasuke close behind. The rest followed suit, following the pink haired Jounin from behind.

"Do you have a plan to find these villages?" Kakashi asked.

Maki nodded with a confident smirk. "Yeah. I believe that whatever tricks the enemy is using, it's the same type of trick my brother used to do."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes upon being told about this. Haruno Hanaki, one of the most powerful Genjutsu users Konoha had ever produced and student of Namoto Shuya. Kakashi felt that Maki would have to tell them about this discovery now to prove his theory.

***Western village (Village of war), Team eight***

Deidara watched with a smile on his face as team eight continued to assault his partner with everything they got. It was a nice change to actually discover that the puppet master actually had trouble with facing this team.

'To think that Sasori-sama has actually met his match!' Deidara thought and looked at Shino. 'The bug user is good. Because Sasori-sama is a puppet user that means that the bug user can jam the puppet's movements by filling the puppet joints with his bugs. A big problem for Sasori-sama.'

Kiba resumed the pressure on Sasori, attacking with his 'Passing Fang' with Akamaru, thus actually using the 'Fang Passing Pang' technique. Sasori was a powerful opponent though and was able to smash Kiba and Akamaru respectively with his iron-tail to parry them away.

The main problem for the puppet master currently was the bugs swarming around him. He realized that the bugs were filling up certain parts of his joints and he could do nothing to stop them. The result of that was that his movements were getting slower and slower.

"Give it up, you have lost." Shino said, sending another swarm of bugs.

Once the bugs have finally filled up every joint and the puppet could no longer move, Kiba and Akamaru both spun at Sasori at full speed. Sasori cursed and gave his puppet up, escaping from Hiruko a second before Kiba and Akamaru smashed through his puppet, breaking them into pieces.

Team eight was greeted with the sight of the puppeteer, a man with medium-length red hair. Sasori stared at his opponents and had to praise them for their resourcefulness of clogging up Hiruko's joints with bugs. They exploited that weakness.

"I congratulate you all for destroying one of my favorite puppets." Sasori praised and then removed a scroll from his Akatsuki cloak. "But this is where I get serious."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, surprised by his partner's choice. "Well, looks like this will become more interesting."

Shino showed no fear on the outside but he was weary of what Sasori had in store for them. He knew that Sasori was not an easy enemy to deal with and overcoming the first puppet was just the beginning.

Written on the scroll that Sasori picked was '3rd Kazekage.'


	75. The Trick & The Iron Sand

**Alright guys, here's the new chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Do leave a review to tell me your thoughts on the new chapter or the overall story so far :D  
Next chapter "The might of Konoha"**

**CHAPTER 75: THE TRICK & THE IRON SAND**

Team seven and team ten of Konoha increased their pace, increasing the chakra usage in their journey. Currently the teams were using an underground tunnel that Konoha had established during the last great Ninja War.

Kakashi knew about these secret tunnels as he took part in the previous war. The tunnel's entrances were mapped in several locations of Konoha's territory but after the war ended, the entrances were sealed off and none knew of these tunnels except for those that acted in the war.

"Why were these tunnels created?" Sakura asked.

"At the time, Konoha was worried that Iwagakure or another village would attack and seize control of one of the small villages under Konoha's control. By doing so, Konoha would lose supplies. In order to send reinforcements quickly if any of the villages were attacked, these tunnels were one of the quickest ways to send units." Kakashi explained.

"But they were never used since during the war, Konoha's territory was safe." Asuma said.

"Yeah but since we need to get to the village of war…"

"This is the fastest way." Naruto said with a look of determination.

The group continued chakra sprinting in the dark tunnels, the only source of light from Maki and Sasuke, both creating a small fireball in the palm of their hands. Sakura doubted he would ever use this path again as he hated the dark.

"Alright Maki, time to tell us what you know." Asuma said.

Naruto and Sasuke were immediately interested with what their pink haired teacher had to say. Both caught a glimpse of Maki's eyes lost in thought before it returned to normal. Maki remembered about his brother's tricks in the past and cleared his throat, prepared to deliver the explanation.

"The villages around Konoha's territory that have been reported 'missing' were never really missing. Instead they were hidden by using a complex and yet simple Genjutsu." Maki explained.

"Genjutsu?" Shikamaru asked skeptically.

Maki nodded. "It is a Genjutsu developed by Namoto Shuya but I only knew of the technique from my brother."

"What makes you think it's the same type of Genjutsu that your brother used?" Kakashi asked.

"Because they're similar to the ones my brother used. In the past, my brother would play a trick on me by asking me to locate a specific item at home and I could never find it. When I finally gave up, he would then reveal to me that the particular item was where it should be but hidden by his Genjutsu which he called 'Distortion.'"

"So what you're saying is that this item you were supposed to look for was where it was 'supposed' to be but due to the Genjutsu technique, it was 'hidden' until your brother revealed it to you?" Kakashi questioned.

"Basically that's the idea. Even with the Sharingan, Byakugan or any other ways you could use to detect chakra or see through Genjutsu, it would be nearly impossible to detect these hidden items under the 'Distortion' technique."

"How does this Genjutsu even work?" Sasuke asked.

"Unlike normal Genjutsu where the user needs to cast it on an individual, this technique works by sealing an area."

Naruto blurted his remark. "An area?"

Maki nodded. "For example the Sharingan casts a Genjutsu by locking eyes with another, hence creating the Genjutsu. The same goes for Sakura's Genjutsu techniques where she needs the other person to be focused on her as she casts her Genjutsu."

Maki paused for a moment before he resumed. "However unlike regular Genjutsu, 'Distortion' is cast by sealing an area. To put it simply, the user casts the Genjutsu on a specific area and any who crosses the sealed area will be under the effects of the technique."

Chouji cocked his head to the side in confusion. "I still don't get it."

"Alright I'll give you an example. I told you how my late brother would play a trick on my by trying to find an item. I found out later that he had casted a seal on the perimeter of the house so the moment I stepped into the house, I was already under the Genjutsu and could never locate the item." Maki clarified.

"So basically the Distortion technique uses some sort of border?" Sakura asked as confirmation. "The moment someone crosses this 'border' anyone would be under the Distortion technique?"

Maki nodded. "Yes that's the basic idea. It has no limit. So long as the seal exists, anyone who crosses the seal will fall under the Genjutsu. Basically in my case in the past, I could never locate the 'hidden' item until my brother dispelled the technique."

"I don't get it though. How do you hide what you want with the Genjutsu? Like you said, your late brother made it so that you could not locate a specific item but in this case, it's a village we're looking for!" Asuma said.

"That's an excellent point and that's another purpose of the seal. In my case, my brother placed a seal on the bottle, which was the item I was looking for. Therefore once I crossed the seal, the 'bottle' which also shares the same 'seal' will be hidden from me. So the enemy must have placed seals around the village to 'hide' the village from us."

"Okay that makes sense… But you also said that until your brother dispelled the technique, you had no chance of locating this 'bottle' that had to search for. Assuming the enemy that cast the Genjutsu is in the village, there is no way we can dispel the technique!" Asuma declared in frustration.

"Well it's true that the only way we can find the village is for the Genjutsu users to dispel the 'Distortion' technique." Maki then had a grin on his expression. "Fortunately for us I learned this technique from my brother. It's a simple technique with a few seals and I can dispel the Genjutsu cast on the village."

It was clear now why the pink haired Jounin had such confidence in himself. Sakura herself wanted to see the Genjutsu herself, a Genjutsu technique that was used by her late father. It simply brought cheers to her spine, curious in how a simple technique could fool a large number of high-level ninjas.

"But don't you need to know where the seal begins to dispel the technique?" Sasuke questioned.

Maki shook his head. "So long as we've crossed the seal, I can dispel the technique anytime within the perimeter. Then the village will be revealed to us... At least for a little while."

"Shouldn't we call for reinforcements then?" Shikamaru suggested.

"Well there's no use in doing that. Like I said I can only reveal the village for a little while. I only learned the 'Distortion' technique on a whim so it isn't fully mastered. So I can only dispel the technique for a few seconds."

Naruto sweat dropped at that remark. "Then what's the point if the village is going to be hidden again?"

"Once we're in the village, it doesn't matter if the village becomes hidden again because we'll be part of the 'hidden' village. In the outside eyes, no one can see us."

"I see…"

With the explanation done, the group rushed through the abandoned tunnels with great haste. Time was running short and the team needed to investigate the reason for the disappearance of the villagers in each village.

After listening to everything that was needed to know, Naruto burst forward to lead the group. His desire to protect the villagers before they disappear was great and Sasuke sensed it. The young Uchiha burst forward as well, sprinting next to the Jinchuuriki.

***Village of War, Team Eight***

Hyuuga Hinata watched in astonishment as Sasori of the Red Sand revealed one of his favorite works, the 3rd Kazekage of Sunagakure. The puppet had deep, yellow eyes and long, black hair and stood next to its master, awaiting its orders.

Shino had a bad feeling deep down in his gut. He had read about the 3rd Kazekage in his research and read that the Kazekage had gone 'missing' a few years ago. He now knew that Sasori killed him but he was confused how the 3rd Kazekage was now under Sasori's control.

The bugs of Shino surrounded team eight as a form of a shield, buzzing around each members of team eight. As both group continued to stare one another down, Shino finally opened the question.

"What have you done to the late 3rd Kazekage?"

Sasori gave a sly grin in response. "I see you've read some parts about his disappearance."

Team eight watched the puppet master then caressing the wooden puppet, something that grossed the Hyuuga princess since the puppet nearly looked human. Kiba himself felt disgusted by the scene, looking away with a foul expression.

"It was I who killed the 3rd Kazekage twenty years ago. After that, I turned him into a puppet." Sasori said.

The words barely registered team eight as they understood nothing about a human puppet but Kurenai realized that the situation was terrible at this point. The black haired Jounin knew they had to get away from the former Suna ninja.

"I see that you must have read something about human puppets." Sasori commented on Kurenai's fearful expression.

"Kurenai-sensei… What is he talking about?" Kiba inquired.

"A human puppet… It is basically a puppet made out of human corpses. However unlike an ordinary puppet, a human puppet retains the use of chakra and any Bloodline Limit the host once had." Kurenai explained in fear.

Sasori laughed heartily and gave a swift nod. "And with that, I have the Kazekage's Iron Sand techniques!"

"So that's basically the 3rd Kazekage?!" Kiba remarked.

Shino decided that there was no time to lose. Facing against an S-rank ninja and a former Kazekage would definitely destroy their team. The young Aburame ordered his bugs to quickly attack the human puppet, the bugs instantly surrounding Sasori.

Sasori grinned and began weaving orders on his puppet. The 3rd Kazekage moved swiftly, dancing around the battlefield. Shino's bugs attacked in waves but none could land on the puppet or Sasori. Shino grew in frustration, his arms giving out orders but none of his attacks landing.

Sasori grinned and twitched his fingers. "My turn."

The 3rd Kazekage opened its mouth and released several black balls. In a second, the balls emitted purple gas around the area, killing Shino's bugs almost immediately. Once the purple vapor had dissipated all the bugs that Shino used to attack had died.

"That takes care of you locking the puppet's joints." Sasori remarked.

"What do we do?" Hinata asked, looking at Kurenai and then at Shino.

"Let's be on the defensive for now." Kurenai said. "We don't know what this new puppet can do."

"Yes, that would be the best move." Shino added. Shino also wanted time to come up with another tactic since he lost a large number of his main attacking bugs.

Deidara watched the whole ordeal in amusement, fascinated with seeing Sasori summoning the 3rd Kazekage for the first time. He had never seen his art companion so serious in a fight and it was a beauty to witness the destruction of Hiruko earlier. Deidara was definitely looking forward to the outcome of this fight.

"Prepare to bear witness the Kazekage's greatest technique!" Sasori said with a smile.

With a few instructions given, the puppet began releasing a large amount of sand grey in color from its mouth. Kiba and Akamaru growled at the sight and got into position, prepared to attack. Once the puppet was done drawing out the grey sand, Sasori lifted his right hand.

"Behold the Iron Sand technique!"

Quickly the puppet charged forward Kiba, drawing out retractable blades on its right arm. Kiba could immediately smell the thick scent of poison from the blades, leaping away from the attack. Kiba and his companion then retaliated, Kiba going towards Sasori while Akamaru aimed the puppet.

"Take this!"

Kiba delivered a quick swipe but Sasori evaded the attack, delivering out new orders to his puppet. Akamaru opened its jaws, revealing its sharp teeth. Despite the heightened sense of Akamaru, the puppet was quick and slashed Akamaru by the muzzle with the blades from its right arm.

Akamaru yelped in pain, blood spilling from the cut and the poison immediately taking effect on the canine. Kiba's heart ached from hearing the pain of his partner but he needed to eliminate Sasori now.

'Sorry Akamaru but if I can take him out first, the puppet will be useless. Hang in there buddy!' Kiba thought, throwing a series claw swipes but none connecting.

Although a puppeteer's weakness was close-combat, Sasori's experience allowed him to stand on his own, dodging Kiba's attacks. Once Akamaru was taken care of, Sasori made a few movements with his fingers, instructing the puppet.

The 3rd Kazekage turned towards Kiba and quickly flew towards Kiba, its blades drenched with poison exposed. However Hinata quickly took action, intercepting the puppet's path and landing a perfect 'Gentle Fist' on the puppet, the blow throwing the puppet backwards.

Shino reacted quickly, releasing a wave of chakra disrupting bugs on the puppet. The bugs quickly swarmed the puppet, absorbing any chakra it could find. Unfortunately the puppet released another poisonous gas, killing all of the puppets.

'Damn it. Why can't I disrupt the puppet's joints?' Shino thought.

As Hinata tried to stop the puppet once more, Sasori gave the next order while still dodging Kiba's attacks. Before Hinata could react, the puppet had two large Iron Sand shaped in a spear launched towards Hinata.

"Hinata! Duck!" Kurenai yelled.

Thanks to Hinata's Byakugan, she was able to avoid the spears on time but it allowed the puppet to pass her. Kurenai ran in to help the young Inuzuka ninja but once again, a large Iron Sand shaped-spear was thrown at her, forcing the Genjutsu specialist to dodge the attack.

"What the hell is that?!" Hinata exclaimed in shock. "Those projectiles are fast for their size!"

"It's the 3rd Kazekage's technique!" Kurenai said. "Be careful! We don't know much about the Iron Sand yet."

With no one to stop the Kazekage, the puppet threw a bomb aimed at Kiba. Kiba saw the bomb and hopped backwards but the move failed. The bomb released purple gas around the area and both Sasori and Kiba were caught in the gas.

"Kiba the gas is poison! Don't breath!" Shino yelled.

Unfortunately it was too late as Kiba had already inhaled a small amount of gas. Although Kiba only absorbed a small amount, the poison was of potent quality and Kiba could already feel his body getting numb. However Sasori merely stood where he was as if he was unaffected by the poison.

'What is going on?' Kurenai thought. 'He's just standing in the poisoned area without doing anything. Not only that, I haven't been able to land a Genjutsu on him. What the hell is he?'

After the poison gas had finally dispersed, Sasori prepared his next attack, his favorite puppet next to him. Kiba struggled to move and coughed out blood a couple of times, powerless to the poison. Akamaru was also paralyzed by the poison by then; even it only suffered a small scratch.

Hinata took a step back in fear, trembling badly. "Wha… What kind of monster is he?"

***Village of war, Elsewhere***

"Who the hell are they?!" A young Konoha Jounin said in fear while hiding behind a wall.

"Shhhh!" Masura hissed. "Not so loud or they'll find us!"

Masura took a peek from the corner of the building they were hiding at. A few minutes ago, he and his team were on the way to assist team eight when they were ambushed by the Reapers.

Takyu used the ambush to his full potential, landing several kunai on vital points on one of the Konoha Jounins, incapacitating him. Masura realizing the dire situation he was in threw a smoke bomb and escaped with his subordinate.

"It looks like they're from the Reapers." Masura stated as he observed the three Reaper ninjas surrounding the wounded Konoha Jounin.

"Reapers?! What… What do we do?! I…"

"Calm down Iwata!" Masura said, immediately silencing the panicked ninja.

Masura observed the Reapers, watching all three of them glaring down at their injured team mate. He noticed that one of the Reapers, a young fellow with flowing jet-black hair down to his shoulders with an arm band on his left hand was a former Konoha Jounin.

"Is that… Yamui?" Masura muttered.

Yamui glared at the dying ninja with cold, emotionless eyes. The Konoha Jounin noticed the headband and tried to say something, but his injuries prevented him on making any audible sound.

Takyu got down and stared into the eyes of the Konoha ninja. "This is for the Reapers, Konoha scum!"

The injured Jounin could feel a hard, foreign object plunging him in the gut. He immediately coughed blood, feeling his life seeping away from him. Takyu then twisted the kunai cruelly, forcing the Jounin to suffer before his death. The last thing the Jounin saw were the murderous and blood lust eyes of Takyu.

Takyu stood up and took out another kunai, his killing intent still high. "Now then… Let's take care of the others, shall we?"

Before Masura or Iwata could even react, Tumako slammed the ground with an open palm. "Earth release! Earth Style Wall!"

A large wall erupted from the ground, rising nearly twenty meters into the air and blocking Masura and Iwata's escape path. Masura cursed and ordered his partner to follow him, both ninjas chakra sprinting through the alley.

"You can't escape us!" Yamui shouted and tossed several shurikens at the pair.

Masura dodged the projectiles and so did Iwata but none were aware of their front. Takyu landed in front of the two and charged towards them with his kunai drawn.

Masura noticed too late and barely avoided the attack, rolling on the ground and passing through Takyu but the Reaper ninja continued on. Iwata was slower in his reaction and Takyu easily gave a mighty cut through Iwata's gut, blood spilling immediately from the gaping wound.

"ARGH!" Iwata screamed in pain.

"IWATA!"

Iwata landed on his back, feeling the large, open wound on his stomach. His hand was drenched in blood the moment he touched the wound, sending the ninja in tears as he could feel his death approaching. Takyu then stomped hard on the young Jounin, causing a fit of coughs on Iwata.

"You bastard!" Masura yelled in frustration.

"You should be more concerned with your own predicament, Masura-san." Yamui taunted with a cold smile.

Tumako and Yamui stood in front of Masura and were basically in-between Masura and Takyu. Yamui began laughing as he stared at the angry look on Masura, feeling the powerlessness on the Konoha Jounin.

"This is it for your team, Masura." Yamui remarked.

***Village of War, Bombed area***

The villagers were busy cleaning up the mess made from the earlier explosion and were completely unaware of the two cloaked figures that were on the rooftops. Both of the cloaked figures had their faces hidden under a straw hat.

"Now that we have completed the sealing on hiding the village, shall we commence the second act?" The figure on the right said his voice soft.

His partner nodded. "Proceed."

***Village of War, team eight***

Hyuuga Hinata fought the 3rd Kazekage in close-combat, landing several key strikes with the 'Gentle Fist' but failed to destroy it. The armor of the puppet was stronger than as expected which forced the Hyuuga princess to be on the defensive until her team could figure their next move.

Kiba and Akamaru were still paralyzed respectively by Sasori's poison and both were now completely numb. Kiba was also slowly losing consciousness, his eyes barely open at this point.

"I must hand it to you little girl, you're surprisingly persistent." Sasori commented, giving commands to his puppet.

Hinata thrust her right palm towards the puppet but the puppet moved away. Immediately it counter-attacked by throwing two Iron Sand-shaped spears towards Hinata. The young Hyuuga evaded each of the spears and jumped away as the puppet nearly landed a cut from its hidden blades.

"Hinata can't keep this up!" Shino pointed out. "Kurenai-sensei, we need to do something!"

"I know that but I can't seem to trap him into a Genjutsu! It's almost as if… he's an object!" Kurenai replied.

Shino could do nothing much now that he only had a few bugs left and without his bugs, he could not do much. He could hardly believe that Sasori's poison so easily eradicated his bugs so the best he could do right now was to come up with something.

"We need to destroy that puppet and then get Kiba!" Shino said. "And then we retreat! We stay here any longer and we'll be dead!"

Meanwhile Sasori continued to pressure the Hyuuga princess, forcing her to be on the defensive. He had to admit that with the Byakugan, it made it difficult for him to land a scratch on the girl but unknown to them, he was still playing around.

"It's time to end this." Sasori decided.

Hinata side-stepped to her left as the puppet sliced the air and counter-attacked, throwing a thrust at the puppet. The 3rd Kazekage then revealed another hidden weapon, a buzz-saw hidden in its left arm. Hinata immediately backed away, the buzz-saw shredding bits of Hinata's hair.

Before Hinata could fully back away, the puppet had another Iron-sand shaped into a lance appear from behind Hinata. The lance flew towards Hinata at an incredible speed, piercing Hinata's right shoulder. Hinata flinched in pain but Sasori was not done.

"It's over for you." Sasori stated plainly and gave the orders.

The puppet revealed more hidden blades from its arms and began spinning around wildly. Due to the close distance, Hinata could not react on time and receive a number of cuts and slashes on her body before Shino pulled her to safety.

"Hinata! Are you alright?!"

Hinata flinched in pain. "Shino-kun… I…"

Shino checked the girl's wounds and realized she suffered major cuts on her arms and thighs but luckily for her, none of her vital areas were harmed. However Shino noticed the poisons on her wounds, his hopes immediately gone.

"You cannot win." Sasori said. "Let me add all of you into my collection of human puppets then!"

Shino glared at Sasori, unable to hold his anger. He was always calm but for the first time, he could feel his emotions getting the better of him. He decided that if this was going to be the end for team eight, he was going to at least give one hell of a fight before he died.

***Outside Village of war***

Team seven and team ten finally arrived at the location where the village was supposed to be located. Just as the reports had suggested, the village was nowhere to be seen and in its place was simply the dense forest.

Nara Shikamaru surveyed his surroundings, trying to find if anything peculiar could be found. The young Nara prodigy was known for his keen knowledge of strategies and taking notes of the environment so he wanted to assist his team in any way possible.

"Is this where the village should be?" Maki asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, I know this place. There's nothing but trees here though and my Sharingan isn't picking up any chakra around here."

Maki smiled. "That's the beauty of the technique. Unlike normal Genjutsus that disrupt chakra, this technique merely disrupts our mind. Basically it is forcing us to see the forest here when the village is right in front of us. It is a very powerful technique that blinds our senses."

"Enough chatting sensei!" Naruto scolded. "Hurry up so that we can go help!"

Maki nodded and began channeling chakra. The pink haired Jounin concluded that if the village was close, they should have passed through the seal that hid the village so it should be fine to neutralize the seal now. Maki then began a set of seals and once he was done, dispersed chakra to his surroundings.

"Release!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Naruto looked around and could see no village and wondered if his teacher was actually wrong. However, a large screech was heard and slowly, the forest in front of them slowly changed its scenery. It was as if the forest was melting and instead the scene was replaced with the entrance of the village.

"So it is a Genjutsu…" Asuma said in awe.

"It's almost unbelievable that even the Sharingan couldn't see through this." Sasuke said.

"Alright guys, we can only see the village for a few seconds. Get in now before the seal is remade!" Maki said.

Team seven and team ten rushed into the village, thus becoming part of the Distortion technique. Just three seconds after both teams entered, the village was once more hidden to the outside world.

"Alright guys, lets go and find the ones responsible for this!" Naruto exclaimed, cracking his knuckles.


	76. Might Of Konoha

**Hei guys, here's the new update. I apologize for the late update but I hope you will enjoy this chapter nonetheless. Do leave a review on your thoughts of the story.  
Look forward to the next addition to the story!**

**CHAPTER 76: THE MIGHT OF KONOHA**

Iwata watched helplessly as his team leader fought a losing battle against two other Reapers. The older Konoha Jounin dodged a number of shurikens thrown at him but it was obvious that it was taking a toll on him. Masura was panting heavily, sweat poured from his brows and his muscles ached while the two Reapers, Yamui and Tumako were toying with him.

Takyu on the other hand watched with an evil grin while also torturing the young wounded Jounin. Iwata struggled to get up but was met with a tremendous force, Takyu stomping down on him.

"You just stay where you are." Takyu said coldly, grinding his foot on Iwata and watched with pleasure at the suffering Konoha ninja.

"Argh!"

Masura's frustration grew, watching his team mate suffering because of him. As the team leader, the lives of his subordinates were his responsibility and he had failed them.

Yamui threw his body towards Masura, crashing on the older Jounin. Masura grunted in pain and lost his balance, crashing against a wall on the side. Tumako reacted quickly, delivering a quick cut across Masura's shoulder and another slice on Masura's chest.

Masura backed away but Yamui pursued him, delivering a number of attacks with his kunai. Masura avoided them all but the wounds he received made it difficult. Once he saw an opening, the older Jounin kicked Yamui in the gut, throwing him backwards and creating some distance between them.

Masura clutched his wounds and panted slightly. He knew they were playing with him, like how cats would toy with their food. He could not escape them and all that awaited for him was death.

"Yamui, why are you doing this?! Why did you join such a group?" Masura spoke through gritted teeth.

Yamui stared into Masura's eyes for some time before he replied. "I'm just doing what I believe is right."

"What you believe is right…? Do you even know what the Reapers are doing?!"

"And perhaps I will ask you also if you know what Konoha is doing?!" Yamui roared in anger. "Do you know how many innocent lives Konoha had vanquished and the injustice that were done on the innocents?!"

"It's true that Konoha made some mistakes in the past… but…"

"Stop your lectures, Masura-san, nothing you or any Konoha scum can justify what I saw those years ago… No, Konoha, Iwa and all the other powers must be vanquished for true peace!" Yamui declared.

Masura remained silent while trying to figure a way to rescue Iwata and escape from the Reapers. The situation was terrible at this point and Masura felt that escaping with their lives intact was impossibility at this point. The best Masura felt he could do was to try and convince Yamui to rejoin Konoha.

"I admit that Konoha made some rash decision but that was a period of war! Sacrifices need to be done and if we didn't do what we did, the war might have continued and more would have died."

"And those are just poor excuses!" Yamui snarled with anger. "Konoha as a military power is meant to protect the people! What's the point when we're being ordered by our superiors to destroy the town?!"

"It HAD to be done! We had no time to evacuate everyone and we had to leave the last few behind! If we didn't destroy the town, the enemy would have used that location as a base to attack!" Masura exclaimed.

Yamui shook his head in disgust and could listen no more. Yamui charged towards the injured Jounin and a former comrade during the Third Great Ninja war. Masura tried to defend himself but he knew it was delaying the inevitable.

The sound of a kunai travelling towards Yamui forced ex-Konoha ninja to back away as a kunai landed on the ground. Masura was surprised by sudden entrance and looked up to find two new Konoha ninjas that had arrived.

"Wha…?"

Nara Shikamaru and Haruno Maki landed in front of Masura, staring dead into the eyes of the Reapers. Takyu narrowed his eyes with interest at the sudden arrival, especially upon recognizing Shikamaru in their earlier encounter.

Yamui too recognized Shikamaru. "You are…"

It took Shikamaru a moment before he realized who they were. "You were those guys that were in Suna."

Masura was glad that reinforcements had arrived and especially with the arrival of two elite Jounins. Masura never realized his knees were weak and dropped on his behind, feeling the pain clearly now from his wounds.

"The Reapers huh…?" Maki commented. "What are you guys planning this time?"

Takyu grinned, taking a step forward. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"We don't have time to deal with this, Maki-sensei." Shikamaru said. "We can capture one of them later and interrogate him for information. For now we need to beat them!"

Maki nodded and looked behind him. "Masura-san, get out of here! You've already used chakra and sustained some injuries. We'll handle them!"

"I can't! Iwata is…"

"We'll save him!" Maki assured the wounded ninja. "I won't allow these bastards steal another life of Konoha! Now get out of here!"

Masura could tell the determination and anger Maki held in the tone of his voice. It was only that factor alone that allowed Masura to leave the scene. With one last glance at his injured subordinate begging to be saved, Masura leaped away.

"Don't let him get away!" Takyu ordered.

Tumako reacted immediately, soaring into the air with shurikens equipped by his fingers. The pink haired Jounin quickly threw a clone kunai at Tumako, the speed barely registering on Tumako' sights as the clone kunai cleanly sliced through Tumako's right thigh, instantly creating a shadow clone.

"Watch out!" Yamui warned.

The clone immediately threw a punch, hitting Tumako square in the face resulting with a long stream of blood escaping from the nostrils. Tumako landed on the ground on his back, injuring him further.

With Tumako temporarily disabled, Shikamaru and Maki made their second act. Shikamaru casted his 'Shadow Bind' technique, capturing Tumako but Yamui barely escaped Shikamaru's grasp. Meanwhile Maki ran towards Takyu with a new clone kunai drawn.

"You won't pass me, Replicator!"

Once Maki was within range, Takyu lunged forward with his fist drawn. Maki parried the attack and threw the clone kunai behind the Reaper ninja. Quickly, the pink haired Jounin grabbed hold of Takyu's arm and threw him against the wall, crashing hard on the wall.

Maki then released the clone kunai he threw earlier. The clone then quickly grabbed Iwata and made their escape, securing the injured Konoha ninja. Maki jumped back and regrouped with Shikamaru and the Reapers did the same, Yamui next to Takyu.

"Help…me…" Tumako cried, unable to escape the shadow bind.

"Alright Shikamaru, you're the one with the brains. What's our next move?" Maki asked.

"The last time I fought them, that ex-Konoha ninja, Yamui, knew the mechanics of the 'Shadow Bind' techniques. Let me take on the other, you get our former comrade." Shikamaru suggested.

"Will you be alright…? Having to hold onto that one guy while fighting another?"

Shikamaru grinned. "I'm hoping you'd take that guy out quick and assist me later."

"I'll do what I can."

With their resolve made, Maki and Shikamaru initiated the attack against the Reapers.

***With the rest of team seven***

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Sakura asked, looking back in the direction where her uncle and Shikamaru remained to help the Konoha ninjas.

"It's okay, they're just Jounin level." Kakashi stated. "Hopefully the two can take care of the Reapers quickly and assist us with our problem."

"You think the Akatsuki is in this village?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm pretty sure they are. We just need to find them and…"

A small explosion erupted from team seven's right, forcing them to land on a nearby roof. Once the debris and dust had settled, team seven had already confirmed the location of the Akatsuki. With Kakashi leading the team, all of them chakra sprinted towards the location of the explosion.

A few seconds later, team seven arrived at the scene of the battle and observed their comrade, Shino and his teacher, Kurenai tossing several kunai wrapped with explosive tags. Opposite them was a man with red hair controlling a mechanical puppet and the puppet was closing on them.

At the moment Shino was almost depleted of his bugs despite his overwhelming storage. He could feel deep down a feeling of fear that he might perish in this village. They could not recover Hinata or Kiba in their retreat but it seems that Sasori had no intention of them escaping either.

"I commend you all for staying alive for this amount of time." Sasori said, twitching his fingers and gave the final order on his puppet. "But this is where we end our fight."

The 3rd Kazekage moved in a zigzag fashion, moving closer and closer towards Shino and Kurenai. Once the puppet was in melee range, the puppet revealed its hidden poisonous claws, slashing towards Shino. The Aburame prodigy cursed and moved to his left but the puppet followed suit, revealing a poisonous blade from another hidden compartment.

'Is this it?' Shino thought.

"RASENGAN!"

Naruto rushed forward and slammed his Rasengan. Being an S-rank criminal, Sasori had already noticed the arrival of other ninjas and moved the 3rd Kazekage out of the way. Naruto's Rasengan smashed into the earth, causing a large amount of dust to fill the air.

"Naruto?!" Shino uttered in shock.

Deidara raised an eyebrow with interest, realizing that he would have to get involved in the fight if more ninjas had entered the fight. Deidara reached into his side pouches and grabbed sufficient amount of clays, allowing his hands to commence the bomb creations.

"Shino, are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura, heal Kurenai and Shino. We'll handle them until you join us later." Kakashi ordered.

"Chouji you go along with Sakura! Make sure no one harms her while she heals the rest!" Asuma barked out.

Sakura and Chouji obeyed and brought Kurenai and Shino away from the battlefield. Sasori for a moment was angered that he allowed his preys to escape but he knew he needed to remain calm. Deidara entered the fray, landing next to Sasori.

"I assume you have nothing against me joining the fight? Hm."

"The agreement was those four ninjas earlier." Sasori replied.

"Good, I was getting bored of just spectating and not getting any action. Hm."

"Don't forget why we're here. We're just here to buy 'them' time." Sasori reminded and glared at his younger partner.

"Oh I never forgot, Sasori-sama. But I do need some entertainment while I wait. Hm." Deidara responded.

Deidara then revealed two clay birds from the palm of his hand and fired them towards Kakashi and company.

"Watch out!" Kakashi cried.

The two clay birds exploded upon impact, creating a medium-sized crater and throwing debris around the area. With the cloud of dust blinding the Akatsuki's vision, Naruto began the counter-attack, lunging forward towards Deidara.

"Too easy fool!" Deidara mocked and revealed another clay bird.

"You're the fool!" Sasuke cried, appearing from behind Deidara.

"Wha..?!"

With Naruto and Sasuke attacking from two opposite directions, Deidara could only defend from one angle. With Naruto closing in, Deidara tossed the bird clay towards the blonde ninja and exploding it. Naruto moved away, coughing from the smoke caused by the explosion. However Sasuke was free to attack. Once the Uchiha saw that he was clear, Sasuke began the seals for Chidori.

"Naïve!"

Out of nowhere, Sasori had commanded his puppet to intercept Sasuke. The 3rd Kazekage swung its hidden blade towards Sasuke, forcing the young Uchiha to duck and attack the puppet instead. Surprised by the raw speed of Sasuke, Sasori commanded the puppet to retreat back but Sasuke managed to swipe the right side of the puppet cleanly, destroying its right arm and its poisonous blade.

Deidara by then took out another glob of clay and laid it on the ground. He then released the chakra stored in the clay, transforming the clay to a gigantic bird. Before Naruto could make his next attack, Deidara hopped on the clay bird and allowed it to soar high into the air.

Meanwhile Asuma and Kakashi ganged up on Sasori. With the right side of the puppet destroyed, the puppet was at a weakened state. Realizing that his favorite puppet would meet its demise, Sasori commanded the 3rd Kazekage to use all of its abilities.

"So this is the famous 'Iron Sand' techniques." Asuma said.

On the sides of the puppet were two humungous pillars made up of iron sand drenched with poison. One of the pillars was thrown towards the two elite Jounins at an incredible speed. Kakashi and Asuma jumped out of its way, the pillar smashing deep into the ground.

The other 'Iron Sand' pillar then flew towards Asuma. He grabbed his trench knives and quickly formed 'Wind Chakra' towards his weapons, increasing the potency of the knives. Before the large pillar could crush him into oblivion, Asuma sliced the pillars cleanly with his weapons, although Asuma struggled through the ordeal.

Sasori was amazed that Asuma achieved such a feat.

"Very impressive." Sasori praised.

Asuma felt like he had just run a marathon, slicing through such material that took so much effort was a first for him. By then the 3rd Kazekage had returned to its master's side and team seven also regrouped.

"My, my… I see they did a number on your favorite puppet master…Hm…" Deidara teased.

Sasori delivered a death glare at Deidara. "The same goes to you, to leave your blind spot so vulnerable to their attack."

"Those two are pretty quick on their feet, Hm..." Deidara said, chuckling and rubbing his head in shame.

"Don't underestimate them." Sasori advised. "The Copy ninja is here and his team was the one responsible to cause trouble for Kakuzu and Hidan in the One-tails mission."

"Heh, I'll show them the beauty of my arts before I rid of them, Hm…"

Sasori checked the condition of his puppet and concluded that the puppet's right side was completely destroyed. Only the left parts of the puppet worked, which holds several hidden gas bombs, a hidden poisonous buzz saw, some hidden arm compartments and also the ability to still use the 'Iron Sand' technique. The Puppet master decided that recalling the puppet would be useless so he would use the puppet until it was destroyed before he moved to plan B.

"So he is the famous Sasori of the Red Sand." Asuma said. "And that technique earlier was the famous 'Iron Sand' technique of the late 3rd Kazekage. How did he manage to learn such a technique?"

Kakashi shook his head and pointed out the mistake. "From the looks of it, I don't think the technique is his but the puppet. I've read on past reports during the war that a puppeteer of Suna in the pas was researching on creating Human puppets. Perhaps this is one of the results."

"What? Are you saying that's the former Kazekage?"

"I don't know but that's my guess. Maybe Kurenai knows something but for now, we need to concentrate on beating them." Kakashi then looked at Sasuke and Naruto. "Naruto! Sasuke! The two of you, get the blonde Akatsuki that uses bombs!"

Naruto grinned in return. "We know!"

Without even missing a beat, both Sasuke and Naruto ran towards Deidara whom was still on his clay bird, soaring fifty feed into the air. Sasori planned to intercept them but both elite Jounins of Konoha attacked Sasori, forcing the famous puppeteer to focus on his own battle.

"Alright then." Deidara muttered to himself, forming new type of bombs with his clay. "Let's see how good these guys are with some C1 explosives."

Deidara finished some bombs in the shape of hawks as he wanted to test how quick Naruto and Sasuke were. Naruto threw several shurikens towards Deidara but they were easily dodged by Deidara's clay bird and Deidara retaliated, tossing the hawk clay bombs at Naruto.

Naruto created several shadow clones and each one of them took the blow for him. Deidara grinned and focused the remaining hawk bombs he had on Sasuke. The young Uchiha with the aid of the Sharingan masterfully avoided each of the explosions and with the last one exploding behind him, Sasuke leaped into the air.

"Heh what can you do? I'm too far for you to reach me!" Deidara taunted, grabbing a handful of clay with the mouths in his palm.

"Chidori Sharp Spear!"

Deidara was wide-eyed with surprise by the sudden attack, the lightning beam originating from Sasuke's palm. Deidara's clay bird flew towards the right but it was too slow, the lightning beam slicing through one of the bird's wings. Deidara abandoned the bird, jumping off of it.

"You're mine now!" Multiple voices shouted in unison.

Several Naruto clones had surrounded Deidara and before Deidara could react, each grabbed Deidara and tossed him toward another clone. The next clone then delivered a kick at Deidara, throwing him to another clone who returned another kick.

"U!"

"Zu!"

"Ma!"

"Ki!"

Finally after several rounds, the clones threw Deidara higher into the air where the original Naruto was already waiting for him. Deidara was bleeding from the mouth and had several bruises on his cheeks. As Deidara neared the blonde ninja, Naruto charged and delivered a powerful kick on Deidara's forehead, sending towards the ground.

"Naruto rendan!"

Deidara crashed hard on the earth, bleeding profusely from the forehead and flowing towards his chin. Deidara was already getting dizzy from the blow and he was feeling numb. Sasuke and Naruto attacked once more, the Uchiha from the front and Naruto from the back.

"You guys won't get me so easily." Deidara muttered.

With the clay he took earlier to create clay birds, Deidara now modeled several spiders. With Sasuke and Naruto approaching quickly, the spiders scurried towards Sasuke and Naruto. The clay spiders were so small that Naruto noticed none of them but Sasuke did with the aid of his Sharingan.

"Shit, Naruto! Get back!" Sasuke shouted.

"Katsu!"

The clay spiders instantly exploded and despite their size, the force of the explosion was powerful to throw Naruto and Sasuke off their feet. Deidara took the opportunity to escape, once more creating another clay bird and using it to distance himself from Naruto and Sasuke.

Once the cloud of dust and debris had settled, Naruto found Deidara already high in the air.

"Damn it, he won't get tricked so easily this time." Naruto said.

"Don't worry, he's a long-distance fighter. This time if we can get him, we make sure we finish him." Sasuke said and then infused his kunai with Lightning.

"Alright, let's get him. Shadow replication technique!" Naruto created several clones and began their second attack.

Meanwhile Asuma and Kakashi were taking their fights cautiously. Although Sasori's current puppet, the former 3rd Kazekage was heavily damaged, both elite Jounins knew of Sasori's specialty with poisons through past reports and both had no doubt that the puppet was filled with it.

Asuma dueled with the puppet, using his trench knives to block the poisonous weapons but Asuma could not land his own attacks, the puppet too swift. Asuma knew he needed to just land one attack and his trench knives infused with Wind elements would completely cut it in half.

Kakashi had to admit that Sasori was indeed a master puppet, using the 3rd Kazekage to engage Asuma while using the puppet's 'Iron Sand' technique to keep Kakashi busy. The Copy ninja himself was rummaging through his mind on how to defeat Sasori without taking a single hit or the poison would be the end of them.

"You stubborn little puppet!" Asuma cried in frustration, swinging the trench knife.

Sasori danced with his fingers, commanding the puppet to back away. Quickly, the puppet then opened its mouth and shot a poisonous gas ball towards Asuma. However instead of retreating, Asuma did the unthinkable and moved forward. He dodged the poison ball and closed the distance.

The move surprised the experienced puppet master and could not give commands quick enough, allowing Asuma to slice the puppet in half with one of the knives and using the other knife to destroy the remaining body of the puppet, completely obliterating the puppet.

With the destruction of the 3rd Kazekage, Kakashi took the opportunity to attack Sasori as the puppet master now had no control over the 'Iron Sand.' Quickly, the former Suna ninja took out two scrolls and summon two more puppets, controlling them immediately.

'These puppets look like regular puppets to me.' Kakashi analyzed with his Sharingan. 'But I'll have to be careful.'

Even though he had his hands full in his own battle, Deidara could tell Sasori was having trouble by now. The 3rd Kazekage was one of Sasori's most powerful puppets so its demise would definitely force Sasori to resort to his next move.

Kakashi reached the first puppet and channeled chakra into the palm of his right hand. The puppet thrust forward, revealing several poisonous daggers from its arms. Kakashi dodged them beautifully and finished his technique, thrusting his right palm into the puppet's chest.

"Raikiri!"

The Copy ninja easily pierced through the wooden puppet, sending its part thrown in random directions. The second puppet was also destroyed instantly by Asuma, his trench knives slicing through it cleanly as if it was butter.

"This is almost too easy." Asuma pointed out.

"Let's not get too…" Kakashi began but then noticed the new danger. "Look out!" Kakashi yelled, jumping away and tumbling on the ground.

Asuma was confused a first until he could feel the searing heat from in front of him. It was then he noticed a blazing, wave of flame moving towards him and the elite Jounin immediately sprang into action, jumping back as the wave of flames moved past the two Jounins.

"What the hell?!"

Kakashi grunted as he got back to his feet and turned towards the enemy. It was then that Kakashi wondered if he was in a Genjutsu. Before the two elite Jounins was Sasori with a completely different appearance than earlier.

Other than his face which remained the same, Kakashi and Asuma realized that Sasori's entire body was a puppet. In a small opening where his intestines should be was instead a thick cable coil coiled around a pole. Also there were poles attached to the back of his hips, each equipped with five large blades.

Kakashi was flabbergasted. "He… turned himself into a puppet?"

"What… What in the world…?" Asuma muttered in shock.

Sasori surveyed his surroundings in his new form, glaring at his enemies with admiration and also hatred towards them.

"I have not used this body in a long time, before I even joined Akatsuki even. You have my respect for forcing me to resort to this but this is the end for you all."

With the death threat sent, the blades attached to the poles on his hips began rotating quickly as if it were a propeller. Kakashi and Asuma quickly got into a defensive stance, the tide of battle now turned against them.

Deidara grinned as he witnessed the whole event. "Looks like Sasori-sama is going to get serious."

***With Maki and Shikamaru***

The battle between the two elite Jounins of Konoha against the Reapers had escalated to a point that they destroyed the alley where they fought, the buildings turned to rubble on their sides. By this time, the villagers had noticed several battles taken place and had taken shelter, abandoning the streets.

Haruno Maki and Yamui exchanged several blows with their kunai, the sound of metal clashing against one another. None were able to land a scratch on the other but it was clear that Maki had the upper hand.

Although Yamui had clear knowledge of Maki's abilities, it could not give him the advantage due to Maki's use of confusion as his main tactic and his unusually large amount of chakra supply. Yamui at this point was growing breathless in the fight and this merely added to his frustration.

Currently there were three Maki's facing Yamui and he knew not which the original was. Yamui screamed a battle cry and engaged the closest one to him, prompting the others to join in as well.

Yamui thrust his kunai forward but the clone parried it, landing a punch on the gut as a counter-attack. Yamui groaned in pain and the other two Maki's joined in, one of them sweeping Yamui off his feet by kicking the ankles while the other jumped into the air.

"Fire release! Great Dragon technique!" The Maki in the air said, releasing a torrent of flames in the shape of a dragon.

Yamui forced himself to roll sideways, the fire dragon burning into the ground. However Maki gave no mercy, throwing the clone kunai he had in his hand towards Yamui. Yamui dodged the kunai once more, getting back on his feet.

"Release!"

Although Yamui expected it, his fatigued body could not react on time, the newly created clone grabbing Yamui by the collar of his clothes and tossing him across the rough terrain as if he were some rag doll. Yamui skidded to a stop, bruises and dirt marks on his body.

"Damn you…" Yamui cursed while slowly getting back to his feet.

"Oh I'm not done with you yet!" Maki exclaimed as he and his three clones running towards Yamui.

The battle between Shikamaru and Takyu was a cautious one with neither willing to commit too deep into the fight. Takyu knew the fight would be over the moment he was caught under Shikamaru's binding whereas the Nara prodigy knew little of the enemy and risking himself to end the fight could cost his life.

Takyu threw a kunai wrapped with an explosive tag towards Shikamaru, forcing the young elite Jounin to move away, disrupting his chain of thought. Once Shikamaru was in the air, Takyu began weaving seals and estimated where he would land.

"Earth release! Earth Devouring technique!"

At the exact spot where Shikamaru would land, the ground began to devour the area like as if it were quicksand. Shikamaru quickly processed through ways to avoid it and finally came up with a simple plan.

From the destroyed buildings caused by the fight, Shikamaru quickly used his shadows to capture a plank of wood that was close to the vicinity. By using his shadows to move the plank to the 'quicksand' Shikamaru landed on the plank and immediately jumped to safe ground before the plank of wood sunk into the earth.

However this was enough for Takyu to have snuck up behind Shikamaru and moved in for the kill. Unfortunately Shikamaru was a master tactician and immediately formed a seal.

"Shadow Sewing technique!"

Instantly the shadows close to Shikamaru transformed into sharp needles and formed a barrier around Shikamaru, protecting him. Takyu dead in his tracks and Shikamaru retaliated, using his shadows to try and capture Takyu but by then, Takyu avoided each one of them and created a safe distance between the two.

"You're smart kid. It's no wonder you are selected for high-ranking missions such as this." Takyu commented.

"Tch… The same goes to you. You seem to know quite a lot about the Nara techniques." Shikamaru pointed out.

"That's thanks to Yamui; he told us everything he knew about Konoha ninjas after our last mission."

Shikamaru merely responded with a smirk but deep down, he was worried with the current situation. He still had Tumako bound under his 'Shadow Bind' technique and that was already draining his chakra. He needed to catch Takyu quickly but his opponent was extremely careful so far.

On Maki's part, it was now clear that the pink haired Jounin had the upper-hand. Yamui could barely keep up going against four of Maki and the battle was merely waiting for Yamui to make one mistake.

"Fire release! Cannon blast!"

Maki gathered chakra towards his throat and released a fireball the size of volleyball, similar to the 'Wind release, Air bullet' technique. However the power of the techniques lies in the destructive power and not the burns.

Yamui jumped to his right as the ball of fire flew past him, hitting a wall behind Yamui. The moment it crashed against the wall, the ball of fire exploded as if it were a bomb. The force of the explosion was so powerful that Yamui was blown off course.

Yamui however was still able to land on his feet but his sense of direction had gone haywire. Unknown to him, Maki had used the explosion as a diversion and was in the air. As quietly as he could he landed directly behind Yamui and grabbed a brand new clone kunai.

"It's over…" Maki whispered and quickly slit the throat of the Reaper.

Maki stepped back, watching the body of Yamui falling to his knees and then finally face-first on the ground, unmoving. It was a horrible feeling for the elite Jounin to kill a person that once belonged to Konoha but he felt the deed was necessary.

"Now for the other guy…" Maki said.

"Oh you're not done with me yet." A voice said.

Maki recognized the voice and his eyes grew wide in horror. He turned back to find Yamui standing behind him with a kunai drawn. With the close proximity between the two, it was impossible to avoid the attack as Yamui thrust the kunai forward, plunging the weapon deep into Maki's gut.

Yamui leaned in and whispered to Maki's ear. "And this is the end of you, Konoha scum!"

Yamui then cruelly pulled the kunai out, blood seeping out of the wound and the kunai was drenched with blood. Maki could feel blood out of the corner of his lips before he slowly collapsed on his back, staring into the bright sky.

***With Masura and Iwata***

Maki's clone had dropped off Iwata next to Masura and vanished in a puff of smoke. The two Jounins of Konoha were currently on a rooftop, resting from their earlier fight and to ease their pain from the wounds they received. Iwata especially was severely injured whereas Masura's injury was minor.

"I… I can't believe I'm still alive…" Iwata said softly.

Masura nodded in agreement. "I honestly thought that was the end of us. To think that the Reapers would attack…"

The two continued with short conversations for a moment, shared their grief over the loss of one of their comrades to the Reapers. Once they were both silent and an awkward silence filled the air, Iwata finally gathered the courage to voice out his concerns.

"Ne, Masura-san…?"

"Hm? What is it…?

"Who is Yamui to you…?" Iwata asked.

Masura instantly stopped breathing, the question catching him off guard. Even Iwata could tell that the name seemed to have a negative effect on his senior but he felt as a team mate, he needed to know the past of a fellow Konoha ninja.

"Yamui… He was a team mate of mine during the war…"

***With Kakashi and Asuma***

Hatake Kakashi and Asuma Sarutobi stood where they were, none of them prepared to attack. Sasori was still enjoying the grim looks on the two elite Konoha Jounins and felt they had the right to be cautious. It had been far too long since he transformed to this body and knew they would be dead in a few seconds.

Sasori then used the thick cable coil to support himself, allowing him to stand off the ground by using the cable as a support. He was raised six feet high off the ground, towering over the two Konoha Jounins and Sasori stared at them with cold, dead eyes.

"Now then…" Sasori began as his blades began to swing around rapidly. "Let's end this quick."


	77. The Might Of Konoha 2

**Hei guys, I am truly sorry of the delay. I had another hiatus and I apologize for it.**

**Here is the new chapter and I will try to continue with the next chapter. **

**CHAPTER 76: THE MIGHT OF KONOHA 2**

Haruno Maki could feel nothing for the moment, only watching the white clouds as they soared peacefully in the ocean blue sky. He could feel blood seeping out of the wound from where he was stabbed and it all happened because of his carelessness.

The moment he slit Yamui's throat, he had let his guard down. The body of Yamui was actually a piece of wood, part of the 'Replacement technique' but Maki noticed too late and Yamui grabbed hold of the opportunity.

Yamui glared at Maki's vulnerable state and held the kunai he stabbed with earlier high to deliver the killing blow. The kunai was still wet with Maki's blood, some of it dripping back down on the pink haired Jounin.

"You let your guard down and now you'll pay the price." Yamui said and then picked Maki's pouch and tossed them away, the contents of the pouch pouring over the ground. "Now you can't use any of your pesky clone kunai also."

The four clones that Maki had created earlier were dispelled the moment he had slit the fake Yamui's throat, so Yamui knew that the Maki on the ground was the original. Although it was true that Maki could create clones with blood, Yamui had forgotten the other method Maki could use to create clones.

"Release!"

The moment Maki created a clone from one of the scattered clone kunai; Yamui acted quickly and went for the kill. However Maki had other plans, immediately releasing the second seal placed on the clone and immediately swapping places with it.

Yamui stabbed the clone through the chest, not realizing of Maki's ability to swap places with the clone. The clone immediately dispelled itself in a cloud of smoke, blinding Yamui's vision. In his confused state, Maki dashed towards Yamui despite the wound.

Yamui sensed Maki's arrival and spun around with the kunai in hand. Maki parried the kunai and delivered a powerful kick on Yamui's chest, throwing the former Konoha ninja several meters away before crashing on the muddy earth.

"Impossible…" Yamui grunted in disbelief. "I got you… That shouldn't have been a clone."

Maki wiped the blood off the corner of his lips. "Believe what you want."

'At least he doesn't know about the 'clone replacement' technique.' Maki thought to himself.

"Well it doesn't matter. With that wound, you won't be able to fight at a hundred percent!" Yamui stated.

Maki made no reply but Maki knew Yamui was correct. His movements and speed would now be reduced not to mention that the longer the fight progressed, the loss of blood would be fatal. The sheer confidence in the eyes of Yamui also lowered Maki's morale.

However Maki had the advantage of having all of his clone kunai scattered across the area. With this, he could release a clone in random areas to help compensate for his injury, although he could only release one clone from each. The pink haired Jounin knew he had to end the battle quickly.

"Take this, Konoha scum!" Yamui then tossed several shurikens toward Maki.

Maki jumped out of the way and at the same time released the seals in several of the custom kunai scattered across the area, the clones immediately aiming Yamui. The former Konoha ninja growled in anger, engaging three clones of Maki.

'I can't take him lightly. Time I finish him off with a full-scale attack.' Maki thought.

Maki thus began releasing clones one after another from all the custom kunai and attacked Yamui. Although Yamui was at first able to fend for himself, soon the numbers began to increase without it slowing down and grew too much for Yamui.

Yamui destroyed two of the clones before another three came at him, one of the clones managing to slash across his chest. With blood now pouring from the wound, Yamui tried to retreat but the clones gave him no such opportunity.

With the number of clones Maki was releasing, Yamui was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Yamui tried to evade the attacks of the clones but there were far too many before Yamui finally succumbed to exhaustion and injuries while Maki was out of harm's way, watching the whole thing.

Yamui was panting heavily while he lay on the ground, bleeding from the attacks he received. Yamui was surrounded by at least twelve clones and it was difficult enough when it was one.

"What… What is this…? What's with these numbers of clones you have…!" Yamui spoke in frustration.

"I don't always use a full-scale attack but after what you did, I don't feel like taking a risk." Maki answered. "You're good if you actually forced me to either reveal the 'Fire Lance' or a full-scale clone attack."

Yamui gritted his teeth in anger. "You're just nothing but a coward, hiding behind your clones…"

"I won't kill you since you're a Reaper… I'm sure you'll have valuable information we can draw out from you…"

Yamui screamed in anger and got back to his feet in one final attempt of attack. However Maki's clones easily disabled Yamui, a quick punch to Yamui's gut and the Reaper ninja lost consciousness. Maki sighed and prepared to assist Shikamaru. Once he had gathered all of his custom kunai and placed them back into his pouch, Maki left the area with three clones of Maki assigned to watch over Yamui.

Shikamaru on the other hand was losing chakra at a quick rate due being forced to bind Tumako while at the same time fighting Takyu. Also Takyu already had some idea of the limitations of the Shadow Bind technique, so the Nara prodigy could not reach Takyu.

"I see you're having trouble keeping up." Takyu taunted when he noticed Shikamaru's fatigue.

Shikamaru remained silent but his opponent was right. Not only that he had to continue trying to catch Takyu but Shikamaru had to continue restraining Tumako with the Shadow Bind technique but his chakra supply was only so much. Takyu got bolder and slowly began to retaliate.

Finally Takyu went for the kill, charging towards Shikamaru. The Nara prodigy quickly went on the defensive, forming his shadows to intercept the Reaper ninja. However due to Shikamaru's exhaustion, the young Nara could not command his shadows properly, thus allowing Takyu to evade them easily.

"You're mine boy!"

Shikamaru remained calm however, not the reaction that Takyu had expected. Once Takyu was within range, Shikamaru took action and threw a fist towards Takyu. Since Shikamaru had only been attacking with his shadows, the sudden attack surprised Takyu but he was able to grab hold of Shikamaru's fist.

"I don't know what you're thinking but you've made the biggest mistake!" Takyu exclaimed with a grin.

Shikamaru smirked back. "Have I though…?"

Takyu then realized he was caught by Shikamaru's trap. He could no longer control his body and he then realized why. On the ground, he could see the shadow of himself and Shikamaru connected through Takyu grabbing hold of Shikamaru's fist. By doing so, Takyu had been caught by the Shadow Bind technique.

"You…"

"I'm not so foolish to actually risk myself without coming up with a proper plan."

Then it was Takyu's turn to smirk. "Unfortunately for you, we think alike."

Shikamaru wondered what Takyu meant and questioned why the enemy was so confident. It was then that his ears picked up the sound of hissing and the Nara prodigy reacted immediately. Shikamaru had no choice but to release the Shadow Bind technique as the exploding tag by his feet exploded, throwing Shikamaru into the air.

By releasing the technique, Takyu and Tumako were instantly released from the Shadows. Immediately Tumako charged towards Shikamaru and the young Konoha Jounin immediately prepared himself.

"Tumako, stop!" Takyu ordered from where he stood.

Tumako quickly stopped in his tracks, confusing him and Shikamaru. "...Sir?"

"We retreat now. I'm sure other Konoha fools have broken through the barrier. We cannot risk more of us getting captured!"

"But... What about Yamui?"

"That is why I said we cannot risk more of us getting captured. Now hurry!" Takyu exclaimed before he turned around and jumped away.

Although reluctant to obey, Tumako followed his superior's orders and retreated along with him. Shikamaru quickly formed a seal and his shadow raced towards Tumako but due to the injuries from the explosion and added with his low chakra, Shikamaru failed to capture Tumako.

"Damn it..." Shikamaru cursed softly, panting heavily once he released the Shadow Bind technique.

"You did well despite going against two of them." A voice commended and Shikamaru recognized it as the Replicator.

"Maki...sensei?"

Maki was on a nearby rooftop surveying the surrounding area. Despite it being a battle of tactics between Shikamaru and Takyu, the area suffered quite a large amount of damage. By this time some of the villagers were also attracted by the destruction and began flocking towards the area.

"I've got one of the Reapers captured. My clones are keeping an eye on them." Maki informed the young elite Jounin. "Shikamaru, you stay here and recuperate. I'll move on ahead and find the ones responsible for creating this Genjutsu-barrier."

"You think you can find the ones that's responsible for this Genjutsu?"

Maki merely gave a confident grin before he departed. Shikamaru groaned and sat down by a destroyed building to rest. As he sat there to rest, he looked up at the skies and watched the peaceful white clouds floating aimlessly in the blue skies. The young Jounin wondered why his life could not be like those of the clouds without any troubles.

***Elsewhere of village***

"A team...mate?"

Masura nodded in an affirmative. "In the period of war, there were rarely any solid squads and we were mostly assigned with different shinobi to compliment and synchronize our abilities for a higher success rate in our missions. I and Yamui were placed in the same group a number of times and we naturally became friends. Yamui was mostly driven by his desire to protect the people of Konoha no matter the cost. However, that day came."

Masura looked down on the ground, feeling disgust creeping up on his old past. "Our squadron was assigned a mission to protect a village in the border of Fire Country due to reports that enemy forces were on the way to seize control of it. We had to defend the village until reinforcements would arrive to secure the village... However the enemy forces were much larger than anticipated. Our captain at the time thus decided that we had to retreat and evacuate the people... And to also make sure the enemy does not gain control of such a key location for them to use."

"...So what did you do?"

Masura hesitated for a while, not saying anything. After half a minute, he finally resumed. "A few of us managed to escape and we evacuated what we could. However many more were still attempting to escape with us but our Captain ordered us to bury the village. The few who had Earth affinity committed the deed, killing our comrades and civilians of the village and the enemy along with it."

Masura was disgusted but continued on. "Yamui of course was one of the few that claimed that we actually could have saved everyone before retreating. However that would have costed more lives of our squadron and the Captain felt shinobi lives were more valuable at the time. When we returned, our Captain reported the actions of the squad and more than half of the council felt he did what was best for Konoha. A few days later, Yamui abandoned Konoha..."

Iwata stared at his superior officer and wondered how he could sleep peacefully after all these years. He had no idea that shinobis in wars would commit such an act but was considered the best course of action.

Masura sighed heavily and glared in the direction where he fought his old team mate. "I don't blame Yamui for hating Konoha. I, myself believe that what I did was wrong and I can never redeem myself but... but... but I will live my life forever shouldering that guilt and... to now do what is right."

Iwata could not bring out any words for his superior. It was simply too much for the young Jounin to take. However after imagining the guilt that Masura carried along with him after all these years was already quite a punishment on the veteran Jounin.

***With team 7***

Several explosions spread across the area, forcing Naruto and Sasuke to move away from their hiding place. Deidara laughed in glee on his gigantic clay bird as his artworks continued to blast the are while he soared in the air safe from harms way.

The battle between Naruto and Sasuke against Deidara was causing so much destruction that it forced Naruto and Sasuke to move to another part of the village. The duo decided on this to not only seperate Deidara and Sasori but also for more hiding places with the buildings that still stood intact. During the move, Naruto created several clones to evacuate the townspeople to a much safer location.

Deidara tossed another bird clay towards the duo, exploding the clay once it was close to Naruto. Unfortunately for the Akatsuki artist, it was a clone as the explosion fused with the clone's smoke. Deidara merely grinned and focused on locating either Sasuke or Naruto as they once more hid themselves from his sight.

"Are your clones done yet?!" Sasuke demanded as debris scattered around from the explosion.

Naruto merely gave a thumbs up and Sasuke took it as their turn to retaliate. The young Uchiha revealed himself from his hiding spot, forming seals in his hand. Meanwhile Naruto sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Fire release! Grand Fireball..."

"Too slow!" Deidara exclaimed, forming a seal of his own. "Release!"

A few feet to Sasuke's right, a spider clay exploded, throwing Sasuke off his feet. Sasuke grunted in pain and hoped that Naruto would attack soon. The explosion disoriented the young Uchiha's sense of his surroundings, allowing Deidara to take advantage of it, throwing a clay bomb in the shape of a ball.

"You think your Sharingan makes you stornger than me?! Well, let me send the brother of Itachi to hell!"

"Not if I can help it!"

Deidara grinned and turned to the source of the voice. Naruto was behind the Akatsuki artist with a kunai drawn. However Deidara was an S-rank criminal for a reason, expecting Naruto to attack from Deidara's blind spot. He had prepared for this and tossed a bird clay towards the young blonde Jinchuuriki.

"You underestimate me fool! Release!"

The bird clay exploded instantly, destroying Naruto to smithereens. Deidara chuckled and focused his attention towards the remaining Uchiha whom was still on the ground trying to get back on his feet. As the ball of clay neared Sasuke, Deidara gave the orders for the explosion.

"RASENGAN!"

Below Deidara's gigantic clay bird, Naruto smashed his Rasengan into the large bird. Deidara lost his balance in shock once he realized his mode of transport had been destroyed.

"Why you... That was a clone...?!"

"EAT THIS!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs.

In the palm of his hand, Naruto had the familiar spiraling sphere-shaped with color of blue. Deidara immediately recognized the technique and knew the danger he was in. With no time to waste, he quickly formed a small-shaped bird clay and threw them at Naruto.

"Release!"

Due to the close proximity between one another, both were caught in the blast of the explosion. However Deidara had only molded a little chakra in the bird so it was only a mild explosion. Naruto grunted in pain from the burns, his black shirt burnt from the explosion. Deidara landed on the roof of a building and the upper-half of his Akatsuki cloak had been completely burnt. In frustration, Deidara removed the Akatsuki cloak, revealing what he wore and his two pouches of clay he had by his sides.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Naruto had to admit that he was excited fighting against such a powerful opponent. The thought of actually going against an S-rank ninja simply told him how much he had grown in the two years under Jiraiya's tutelage. As for his partner, Sasuke felt his battle against Akatsuki ninjas was allowing him to slowly reach Itachi's level and hopefully avenge the death of his clan sooner than later/.

"Heh, I haven't had this been fun in such a long time..." Deidara said with a grin. "But I'll make sure the both of you die in the explosions of my art!"

"You can't beat us without your huge bird to keep you safe now!" Naruto retorted.

"Hmph, even if he had the bird, he wasn't that much." Sasuke added in.

Deidara glared in anger at the young Uchiha and his hate grew tenfold upon staring into the eyes of the Sharingan; the very same eyes that had defeated him years ago that forced him to work for the Akatsuki. The young Akatsuki artist could feel his blood boil upon recalling the events and his eternal hatred for the Sharingan.

"You bastard... That arrogant look... You are definitely his brother...!" Deidara grabbed some clay from his pouch as he began forming shapes with the clay. "I will kill you and then laugh once Itachi knows that you're dead!"

***With Kakashi & Asuma***

Hatake Kakashi watched the movements closely with his Sharingan, anticipating the puppet's movements. Once it was clear what Sasori was going to do, he anticipated the movement and ducked as the high-pressured water passed by above him, slicing a building behind him in half easily. The copy ninja took this opportunity for a counter-attack, creating a Raikiri on his right hand.

Meanwhile Asuma was recovering from chakra exhaustion. The battle between the two elite Jounins against the master puppeteer of the Akatsuki was mostly a long-range battle as the elite Jounins wanted to not risk their lives engaging in close-combat. In order to do that, both Konoha Jounins had been engaging Sasori with Ninjutsu and Asuma had used far too much techniques.

'However going against Sasori with long-range techniques was a bad idea.' Asuma thought while watching Kakashi dash towards Sasori with the Raikiri. 'Sasori's flames and high-pressure water allows him to trade in long-range battle far better than us.'

Kakashi avoided another attempt from Sasori with the high-pressured stream of water, slowly closing in on Sasori. The puppeteer also realized the danger he was in and changed tactics, throwing the flames towards Kakashi. However the Copy Ninja anticipated it and began forming one-handed seals.

"Water release! Water Shark Missile!"

Without any nearby source of water, Kakashi was still able to create the technique at a high-level, neutralizing the flames thus allowing Kakashi to attack Sasori freely. Kakashi was merely inches away from landing the Raikiri when Sasori revealed another set of defensive mechanics. From his sides, he activated the set of blades, spinning wildly and prepared to slice Kakashi into pieces.

'I have to take the chance!' Kakashi thought and proceeded with the attack.

Sasori merely thought the attempt foolish and welcomed the son of Hatake Sakumo's attack. As both neared, Kakashi knew he had the disadvantaged and dived to the side, avoiding the sharp blades, his Raikiri still active. Sasori however was not going to allow the chance for Kakashi to escape and struck with the blades.

The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed loudly, Asuma blocking the poisonous blades with his trench knives. Sasori attempted to overpower the weakened Sasori but Asuma quickly poured chakra into his knives, infusing the trench knives with Wind elemental chakra, sharpening the blades. With all the strength he could muster, Asuma pushed his trench knives against the blades of Sasori, easily slicing through the blades.

'What...?! Wind Elemental Chakra?' Sasori thought in shock.

"Kakashi! Now!"

Kakashi took action immediately, moving in and thrusting forward his right arm with the Raikiri. With so little distance between the two, Sasori could barely avoid Kakashi so the S-rank puppeteer did the next best thing; he used the cables in his body to smack Kakashi. The attack failed to stop the Copy Ninja but it allowed Sasori to alter the angle of the attack, slicing through the right of Sasori's puppet body but failed to hit the only living organ he had in his body; the heart.

Kakashi managed to deal heavy damage to the right side of Sasori's body, taking the right arm of Sasori as well. As Kakashi landed face-first on the ground, Asuma also took advantage of the wounded Sasori, slicing Sasori's remaining blade away, thus eradicating any more use of poisonous blades.

Before Asuma could and any more attacks, Sasori hopped back with the help of the cables and created some distance between the two elite Jounins. Despite not sustaining any injuries throughout the ordeal, both Kakashi and Asuma were down to the point of chakra exhaustion, greatly fatigued and panting heavily.

"We can't... keep this up..." Kakashi said through heavy breaths.

"We almost... have him... We need... perseverance Kakashi!"

"It took so much... to just scrape him... and with low chakra and stamina..."

Meanwhile the former Sunagakure ninja analyzed the current situation. He knew he could defeat the two Konoha Jounins but he wondered if the cost was worth it. With the damage he had sustained and the destruction of Hiruko and the 3rd Kazekage, he had paid a heavy price. Also he doubted the mission would last any longer and he felt that retreat was currently the best option.

Kakashi however recognized Sasori's intention and quickly formed seals with great speed. "You're not getting away! Earth release! Earth-style Wall Technique!"

Behind Sasori a large wall erupted from beneath the ground and raised up to ten meters in height. Sasori looked behind him and realized in his current condition, it would take too much time to climb the walls before Kakashi or Asuma attacked him.

"You must be fools trapping me here." Sasori remarked.

Asuma grinned tiredly. "You should assess the situation more thoroughly then."

Sasori was confused for a second before he realized what the Konoha Jounin meant. Behind the two elite Jounin, Haruno Sakura had arrived along with Chouji and the entire team Eight fully healed and recuperated.

"Well... I did not expect my poison to be nullified that easily." Sasori stated nonchalantly.

"Heh, then you have not met me, Haruno Sakura and apprentice to Tsunade!" Sakura said with a clenched fist.

Sasori narrowed his eyes, not surprised now by the answer. Tsunade was considered one of the best healers of the current era and if the young pink haired girl was the Sannin's apprentice, he would expect no less. Normally the legendary puppeteer would welcome the challenge but in his current state, he felt he was outnumbered.

"Time I pay you back for what you did to me!" Kiba said followed by a bark of agreement by Akamaru.

Shino shifted his sunglasses, looking at his team mate. "Don't be so reckless Kiba."

After considering the situation, Sasori realized he had to resort to his final ace-in-the hole. The red haired puppeteer reached for a hidden scroll he had on his back and revealed it to the newly arrived ninjas.

"I have never been pushed so much to the limits to be forced to use this. I admit, you young ninjas truly put up a remarkable fight but I will not lose to you, not on this day! Allow me to introduce you the Secret Technique that allowed me to take over a country!"

***Elsewhere of the village***

The two cloaked figures stood on the rooftops and continued on with the final phase of their mission, watching the people enter the gateway they had created. Once they had gathered everyone or enough that was needed, they could release the seal and begin their retreat.

The villagers all walked into the gateway mindlessly like as if they had no control of their actions. The two cloaked figures found it amazing how much villagers they had been able to gather before Konoha finally acted. The same goes for the other four Mighty nations.

"...Takyu and Tumako have already retreated..." The figure on the right stated.

His partner nodded. "It's okay, they and the Akatsuki have already bought us enough time to complete our part of the mission."

"...Should we retreat now...?"

"Not yet..." The figure on the left responded. "We are almost done however. Once the civilians of this section is collected, we can retreat as well."

"...What about the Akatsuki?"

"They are allies but they are not of our concern. They should be able to take care of themselves."

The two were so engrossed in their mission that neither of the two noticed their enemy approaching. Haruno Maki spotted the two Akatsuki-cloaked figures and quickly tossed several of his Clone Kunai's, prepared to release all of the clones at once.

However the figure on the left finally sensed Maki's attack and formed two seals, creating a sort of shield around them. Once the Clone kunai neared them, all of them disappeared and a second later, appeared on another rooftop.

'What the...?!' Maki thought in shock upon witnessing such a technique.

"Continue with the operation." The figure on the left commanded of his partner. "I will deal with him."

Maki glared at the two of them. The cloaked figure that was still resuming with the technique, Maki recognized it. It simply confirmed his suspicions of the Genjutsu barrier technique. The other figure had blue, spiky hair with black eyes. The man smiled at the pink haired ninja, actually opening his hands wide as if to give Maki a welcome hug.

"Haruno Maki... It is an honor to finally meet you!" The figure spoke, his voice low.

"...How do you know me?"

The blue-haired man smiled once more. "How could I not...? Your teacher, Namoto Shuya, have spoken of you many times. It is of no surprise that we would finally meet one day."

***Chapter end****

"


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